Keeping hifi on

[James the Albarry lover]

As far as I know Albarrys are class B amps, which means no quiescent current when no music is playing. The opposite to a pure class A amp that is constantly drawing a full load. Thus the Albarrys sit in a sort of “standby”, so much safer to leave on than some other gear.

That's nice to know I remember seeing old manuals for Albarrys telling you to leave them on to improve reliability

[Audio Al]

OFF when not in use here

[Barry]

Electrostatic speakers constantly powered-up (apart from two house moves and about three power cuts, they've been powered on for the last forty five years). Preamps and phonostages are also left on all the time (except when on holiday). CD player in standby (electronics on, laser off). And the power amps off when not in use. I've not noticed any change in SQ on warm up with the latter, nor have I noticed they sound any better when I have come down the following morning to find I have left them on all night!

[hifi_dave]

That's nice to know I remember seeing old manuals for Albarrys telling you to leave them on to improve reliability

Albarry monos improve quite noticeably after 30 minutes but nothing beyond that. I wouldn't leave them or anything else permanently powered up.

[Scooby]

For me it depends on how often I use it. If I'm listening every single day for longer periods, I leave it on. If I'm only listening weekends or even less frequently, I unplug it and simply warm it up half an hour before my next listen.

I'm conscious of the arguments about stressing trannys by constant switch off and on, but I'm also aware of the fact capacitors normally have a lifespan rated in hours. I don't therefore want to keep them powered when I'm not listening for ages and there is also the fact that heat can wear and stress other components. Then again, leaving stuff unpowered for long periods can allow caps to deform.

I'm not out to convince anyone either way: just setting out the arguments I weigh up. Whatever you do with your own kit should be your own choice.....'cos it's only you who will be listening and paying for any servicing/repairs

[speedracer]

I always turn mine off when I have finished listening, not worth leaving the Cd player on when I only listen to it once every blue moon, & having a valve pre/phono & power amp I turn them off too, as much for the cost of valves as anything else. I agree they take 20 minutes to half an hour to start coming on song though so I turn it all on about 45 mins before a session.

[RobbieGong]

Kit off when not in use, fire up a good few hours before a sesh

[alphaGT]

Since I do have the backup power filter, I leave my pre and CD and amp in standby. But, especially in the Summer, I’ll switch the amp off when not in use. And while it does sound better after it’s warmed up, it’s not stopping me from enjoying it from a cold start. It’s not horrible when it’s cold, just slightly better after it’s warmed up. I can understand that tube gear is more temperature dependant. But I haven’t gone there just yet


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[Yomanze]

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/0..._that_readers/


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[Pharos]

I'm not sure about the life expectancy of caps re intermittent versus full time on, and the stresses of intermittency are high and repeated of course.

I think most equipment is optimised for its equilibrated temperature after running for a while, and so it will sound better when it reaches that state. Valves will age wit hours used, and the geta get used up.