Leaving amp on all the time a good idea???

nellis8166
nellis8166 Posts: 292
edited January 2003 in Electronics
I recently picked up an Adcom GFA7400 for my LSI mains and center. Everytime I turn the thing on and off my speakers pop. Someone suggested leaving the amp on all the time. Is this a good idea??? I noticed that it gets slightly warm just sitting at idle with no signal. Is this normal??? I would really appreciate any input on this. Thanks in advance,

Regards,
Nat
RTi10
CSi5
RTi28
SVS PB12-ISD2

Denon 2106(pre/pro)
Adcom 5503(200x3)

Audioquest Diamondback ICS
Kimber Kable 8tc biwire(mains and center)

"Don't let your silly dreams fall in between the crack of the bed and the wall."
-J. James
Post edited by nellis8166 on

Comments

  • phuz
    phuz Posts: 2,372
    edited January 2003
    Idle warmth is normal. I leave my amp on all the time, and I don't think it is much of a problem as long as it gets decent ventilation.

    If your amp has a 12v trigger you could use another component to power it on, or you can get a monster or panamax power unit that has delayed/sequenced switches to eliminate the poping.

    Question: How is a 2ch amp powering your mains *and* center?
  • Ron-P
    Ron-P Posts: 8,516
    edited January 2003
    The GFA 7400 is a 5 ch.


    Peace Out~:D
    If...
    Ron dislikes a film = go out and buy it.
    Ron loves a film = don't even rent.
  • George Grand
    George Grand Posts: 12,258
    edited January 2003
    Leave it on. I have a couple Carver power amps that I left "on" for about 10 yrs. I only shut them down in the summer when the threat of thunderstorms was imminent.

    I know people swear by the Adcom's, but here was my experience:

    Right after the Gulf War, the buzz over the original GFA-555 was overwhelming. HAD to get one. Asked my friend Don, the senior service tech at Adcom at the time, to get me one. I got it, brought it home, disconnected my Carver M4.0t from my system, and inserted the Adcom. I turned it on to "warm up" and went in to have dinner. At the time I was driving two pair of RTA11t's through a Dynaco Quadaptor. This device parallels the two pair of speakers as far as the amp goes. RTA11t's were 6 ohms nominal, so when paralleled, the amp is seeing 3 ohms. No biggie right? I mean, the Carver did it for a couple years, and never even got warm to the touch. Not so for the Adcom. When I finished dinner, I started to head for my stereo room. Before I got IN THE ROOM, I could smell that Adcom cooking. That "hot" electrical smell. I figured it could be due to no heat dissipation while the amp was idling or in its quiescent mode (Troy will now use the term quiescent. It won't piss me off because imitation IS the sincerest form of flattery). I was wrong there too. I put on some stuff, the amp NEVER cooled down, my stuff NEVER sounded so bad, and I got rid of that amp as quick as I could. Put the Carver back into the system and never looked back.

    I know others absolutely rave about Adcom's. I don't question their ears or judgement, but every time I get tempted to explore Adcom amps again, I look at the Carver's, smile a little smile, and quickly move on to other thoughts.

    George Grand (of the Jersey Grand's)
  • nellis8166
    nellis8166 Posts: 292
    edited January 2003
    Phuz,
    The GFA is a 150x5 amp. I am very impressed with the sound. It really made a world of difference with the LSI's as you said. I have my 9's bi-amped. They make me melt in my chair. The LSI's are amazing speaks.
    The amp does have a 12 volt trigger, but this is something that I am not familiar with. How does it work and what has to be done for set up???
    I have it plugged into a Monster HTS1000, but again I am not really sure what delayed/sequenced switches are. Care to elaborate a little???
    I feel like I am the annoying kid in school who asked too many questions. I will say this though, I have learned more here in a month than I ever could have imagined. Again thanks for everybody's help.
    I think that for now I am going to leave it all the time. It seems to me that when I start using it cold it takes 30 min for it to get up to full speed. Maybe this will help. I have heard that it takes that much time for amps to warm up and really shine. I have it ventilated very well, not worried about that at all. Do these types of amps draw a lot of power at idle???Should I be expecting a spike in my electric bill???
    Regards,
    Nat
    RTi10
    CSi5
    RTi28
    SVS PB12-ISD2

    Denon 2106(pre/pro)
    Adcom 5503(200x3)

    Audioquest Diamondback ICS
    Kimber Kable 8tc biwire(mains and center)

    "Don't let your silly dreams fall in between the crack of the bed and the wall."
    -J. James
  • George Grand
    George Grand Posts: 12,258
    edited January 2003
    That amp is constantly generating, and then dissipating into heat, its full rated power. A little increase in the utility bill, but not enough to go broke.

    Do not assume I was bad-mouthing or slurring YOUR Adcom. I understand they have made changes at Adcom. I mean, what other reason for a GFA-555 II. Maybe the one I got was broke. It may not have been, as I gave it to someone who wanted it pretty bad, and told them to live with it for a month or so before money changed hands. After about a month, money changed hands, so I assumed it did not fail, or manifest any gross problems during the trial period. It just didn't happen to be MY experience with Adcom's.

    George Grand (of the Jersey Grand's)
  • HBombToo
    HBombToo Posts: 5,256
    edited January 2003
    Unless a storm is approaching I don't see a problem with it.

    HBomb
    ***WAREMTAE***
  • nellis8166
    nellis8166 Posts: 292
    edited January 2003
    I didn't assume anything George, it's all good. My set-up sounds great and guess that is all that matters.
    It sounds like maybe you got a bum amp???

    Regards,
    Nat
    RTi10
    CSi5
    RTi28
    SVS PB12-ISD2

    Denon 2106(pre/pro)
    Adcom 5503(200x3)

    Audioquest Diamondback ICS
    Kimber Kable 8tc biwire(mains and center)

    "Don't let your silly dreams fall in between the crack of the bed and the wall."
    -J. James
  • George Grand
    George Grand Posts: 12,258
    edited January 2003
    I don't think the amp was bad. The guy I sold it to didn't blow it up until about 6 months ago. He was happy with it for quite some time. I just don't think that amp liked 3 ohms, which was in pretty stark contrast to what I had been reading about them.

    You like your amps, I like my amps, life is good and pass the chicken please.

    George Grand (of the Jersey Grand's)
  • Zen Dragon
    Zen Dragon Posts: 501
    edited January 2003
    As stated in this post and others, the most stressful time for any electronics is power up. The power surges in, and the regulators gotta catch up and smooth it all out. While this is additional stress, most gear is made to take it. It applies to any electronic gear that power on is the most stressful time, and the heating and cooling of the components adds some stress also.
    That being said, a high power amplifier at idle still uses a noticeable amount of electricity. It's not a massive amount, maybe 5-10 dollars worth, but why waste it. Unless you are hearing a loud enough pop out of the speakers that you suspect it may damage them, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I have my amp plugged into the switched outlet of my rcvr so it powers on and off with the rcvr.
    Just don't want to burn the extra juice.
    Now my comp I never shut off, but a lot less electric involved in a computer. Just my thoughts
    The Family
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    Do not one day come to die, and discover you have not lived.
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  • Ron-P
    Ron-P Posts: 8,516
    edited January 2003
    I could see the amp get burning hot under a 3 ohm load. They are rated for an 8 ohm load. I have 4 of the 535's and even when driving them hard for several hours for a movie, they get warm, but never beyond that.

    I honestly can't see leaving the amps on having any benefit over powering them on and off. I have a very old (15+ years) Sony 2-channel receiver that gets powered up and down almost daily and it's still running like a champ.

    What is the reason you guys leave your amps on 24/7? Is it just the thought you may be extending it's life?


    Peace Out~:D
    If...
    Ron dislikes a film = go out and buy it.
    Ron loves a film = don't even rent.
  • jmasterj
    jmasterj Posts: 327
    edited January 2003
    Hey nellis8166,

    I have a Carver TFM-35x power amp and it did the same thing when I powered it up before I turned everything else on. When the speakers (powered towers) came on they pop. So I just turn everything else on first then turn on the power amp. No problem, and I don't have to leave anything on. Turn the power amp on last and off first. Works for me.
    JmasterJ Polk to the Death
  • George Grand
    George Grand Posts: 12,258
    edited January 2003
    That is the prescribed way to turn any system on and off. You can go one better by leaving the preamps outputs turned off while powering the power amp on and off as well.

    I HAD a Carver M1.0t, and NOTHING would stop that big capacitor discharge whack. Former members of this forum that owned the same amp (The Bros. McGowan) went as far as to contact Carver. They received guidance from Carver on mods that would stop the ****. I had gotten rid of mine long before I came to this forum (1990 or so).

    George Grand (of the Jersey Grand's)
  • nellis8166
    nellis8166 Posts: 292
    edited January 2003
    Tried all those...doesn't matter what i turn on and when...still pops...im just going to leave the thing on...what's another 5 or ten bucks a month...

    Regards,
    Nat
    RTi10
    CSi5
    RTi28
    SVS PB12-ISD2

    Denon 2106(pre/pro)
    Adcom 5503(200x3)

    Audioquest Diamondback ICS
    Kimber Kable 8tc biwire(mains and center)

    "Don't let your silly dreams fall in between the crack of the bed and the wall."
    -J. James