power on or off

[diviy]

I use my sytems everyday seen some article's saying leave your hifi on 24/7
What do you do discuss

Gerry

[struth]

Some people do, and swear by it (usually when it goes pop):lol: I would never leave equipment on overnight or unsupervised; its asking for trouble.(imho)

[Barry]

My preamps and phonostages are left on 24/7, so too the electrostatic speakers (the latter, apart from two changes of location and a few power cuts have been left on for the last 35 years!)

The power amps and sources are switched on as and when required.

[awkwardbydesign]

Squeezebox Duet and ReadyNAS on, everything else off.

[walpurgis]

Everything off. I'm far too tight to waste electricity. :)

[Light Dependant Resistor]

Good topic.:) By far the biggest waste of electricity (if you have a hot water cylinder ) is constantly heating water with billed electricity in a home. Paying your electrician to install a switch or install a timer where hot water is available when needed will pay for itself very quickly. Gas and solar are other options, particularly worthy are heating methods that deliver energy when actually needed, and are not just sitting wasting your money.

Although some people will have greater need for hot water than others, there are savings to be made. LED globes also very soon pay for themselves. If you do this leaving the hi fi on is not so expensive, but turning off is what I do, but usually leave the ESL57's and stereo coffee LDR left on

Cheers / Chris

[Andrei]

With an amplifier that runs in Class A to 100 watts before switching to Class B - it always gets switched off, likewise for my valve phonostage. Other items: yes, no, maybe.

[Barry]

My Mark Levinson ML-2s are 25W pure class A monoblocks with an idling dissipation of 400W. Not surprisingly, they are only switched on when needed.

[Eagle owl]

I switch everything on about 15 minutes before I start listening and switch off as soon as I've finished.

[Reffc]

Things like electrolytic capacitors in circuits can have their lifespan shortened considerably if left powered up all the time, so it makes little sense to do that. The exception are some pure Class B amps which never get hot or even that warm (Albarrys spring to mind here) which can be left on. Generally speaking though, it serves no useful purpose and isn't very environmentally friendly, even if affordable. Every little counts! Usually, most SS amps only need a minute or two warm up, and valve amps perhaps 15 minutes, so as with Geoffrey above, I switch mine on 15 minutes or so before listening to music.

[Idlewithnodrive]

Barring my SBT, all off.

[The Black Adder]

OFF! OFF! OFF! - Not worth the risk.

IMO... If a system sounds so noticeably awful (even after 15-20 mins from cold) that you really can't live with it then I'd consider changing but try different source equipment first before opting for a full pre/power change as the latter may not be the problem.

[Audio Al]

I contacted Neil at Albarry re my M608 and he said leave them on all the time and estimated the running cost at £0.15 per hour , that's both amps

[Idlewithnodrive]

I contacted Neil at Albarry re my M608 and he said leave them on all the time and estimated the running cost at £0.15 per hour , that's both amps

:eek: That's over a 100 quid a month !

[Gordon Steadman]

Quad57s on all the time. Everything else gets switched on a short while before use.

[prestonchipfryer]

I used to leave all my equipment on. With the current cost of electric I now turn off my power amps, but pre and phono are left on. My electric bill has definitely been less since turning off the power amps.

[Reffc]

I contacted Neil at Albarry re my M608 and he said leave them on all the time and estimated the running cost at £0.15 per hour , that's both amps

It'd be less than that Al as they should only be using 7W at idle. 15p per hour is more like a KW!

[awkwardbydesign]

and stereo coffee LDR left on

Cheers / Chris
Well, I will do that too when I finish fiddling with it. But as it has a solar panel it won't cost!

[MikeMusic]

All on
Sounds better and takes at least 2 hours* to come up to best sound

*testied, couldn't sensibly do longer

[Spectral Morn]

My preamps and phonostages are left on 24/7, so too the electrostatic speakers (the latter, apart from two changes of location and a few power cuts have been left on for the last 35 years!)

The power amps and sources are switched on as and when required.

My sources are left powered up but not the amplification - way too risky. If standby is available set to that or on with display off if not.



Regards Neil

[jollyfix]

I switch everything on about 15 minutes before I start listening and switch off as soon as I've finished.
Same here Geoffrey.

[shane]

I'd never leave anything with valves in switched on unattended. Simply not worth the risk.

[walpurgis]

Why do some people leave their turntables running permanently? It's a good way to shorten the life of the motor and main bearing. If your TT can't achieve a steady speed fairly quickly, there's either something wrong with it or it's a poor design. Just my view.

[dantheman91]

Off! Whats the point of leaving on 24/7 shortens the lifespan for sure.

On when i need it to be.......;)

[trio leo]

I switch my CDP off, it only takes about 15 mins to come into song, so I don't mind, as for amps, I leave them on 24/7, my last set of Albarry M408's were on for 25 years, still sounded great when I sold them in order to buy the fantastic amps I now use.
As others have mentioned in this thread they use so little when in "standby" mode it's not worth bothering about and the amps are always ready to go as it were, but if you have concerns about safety and/or running costs, switch them off.

enjoy your music :)

cheers Al

[Haselsh1]

Mmmm... possibly. My phono stage is left powered up all of the time but things like the CD player are on standby whilst the amps are off until an hour before a session. Not sure really but then my amps aren't full class A so not much of a consumption problem.

[Haselsh1]

Same here Geoffrey.

+1

[worrasf]

Sequence from all off and cold:

Croft headamp -on
TT PSU - on
Caiman 2 DAC - on
Cyrus PSxR - on
Cyrus CDXTse 2 - on
Croft 25R PSU - on
Croft pre - on

Wait until 25R stable (LED's red go green)

Croft 7 Monoblocks on

Go and do something else for 20 minutes

Listen and enjoy :cool:

Shutdown in reverse order :(

[hifinutt]

my electrostatics are designed to be on standby all the time , so is the power amp
the pre amp is valve so turned off when not in use

everything else is on 24/7 as designed to be that way I think

[The Barbarian]

I would never ever leave anything on in our gaff. I'm not impressed that the TV is on standby never mind an amp

[RichB]

Everything on, all the time. Amp turned down.

Never did any harm to my gear , but then I don't have any valves in the system.

Haven't we been here before?

[Lodgesound]

We have ......here is a little piece of experience from my book...

I do not leave equipment switched on when unattended.....quite apart from the waste of energy it is dangerous especially with items such as amplifiers which can output very high currents.

I was recently working in my studio using all machinery including a tape recorder - a very high end one.

All was well and working - it was all still well and working when the fire in the main power supply of the tape recorder started and CONTINUED to work throughout.

The fuses did not blow - the RCD's did not trip and the wiring loom in the machine was ON FIRE!

It is simply not worth the risk - I found what happened above unbelievable also.

There are incidentally no valves in my system either.

[Barry]

Good Lord - not your loverly Studer 820? :eek:

[petrat]

I switch everything on about 15 minutes before I start listening and switch off as soon as I've finished.

:thumbsup:

[doodoos]

Everything off except cd player as it seems to take 24 hrs to sound at its best.

[337alant]

All my SS amps and HTPC stay switched on 24/7, I wouldn't do that If I had valves.
I always switch off my vintage stuff such as Reel 2 Reels tuner and my Turntables
Left a reel 2 reel on for a week end once and the capstan motor burned out as they run continuously if there is tension on the tape, it took me 6 months to find a replacement motor :doh:.
Alan

[Lodgesound]

Good Lord - not your loverly Studer 820? :eek:

Sadly Barry it was - all fixed and repaired now though....

[Audio Al]

the wiring loom in the machine was ON FIRE!

I am sure I read somewhere about burning in cables :scratch:
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Sorry Stewart , couldn't resist , Glad its all sorted now

[Pete The Cat]

Everything off. That said, it seems to sound better after being on for 20 mins or so, or maybe that's down to the first Heineken Export of the listening session.

Pete

[struth]

I like to warm up the phono stage first 10 mins ahead of the rest of the gear.... if I can I will give it 30 mins to get to optimum b4 playing at its best.

[walpurgis]

Everything off. That said, it seems to sound better after being on for 20 mins or so, or maybe that's down to the first Heineken Export of the listening session.

Pete

That is exactly what I find. It sounds OK when switched on, but 20 minutes to half an hour in, there's a very noticeable point where the whole system magic begins. Like a pair of curtains being opened and the whole thing starts breathing life. This seems to happen no matter which source I use or which amplification. There's also a perception of the sound steadily improving for a while after too.

[hermit]

A number of years ago I had a five year old NAD T742 catch fire, not magic smoke but actual flames. Since then, I always switch everything off after use.

[Lynster]

I've never had any 'hi fi' electronics catch fire but after both a tv and a microwave have burst into flames in situ, I decided its well and truly not worth the risk. Asbestos gloves are no longer a politically correct possession (to carry a burning heavy mass outside) and not everyone has a correct extinguisher so not a fun option to be presented with in my experience.

One reads that the options for components are the 'switch on surge' till stabilised, or always on and 'using up component life' but surge free if always on. I simply won't leave anything on (even on standby) if I'm away over night or longer so don't let myself worry about that argument. At least then if something fails at 'switch on', I'll be there.:stalks:

My equipment too seems to need 20mins to settle and like others here, seems at its best after an hour or so. So usually, I'll switch on 30mins or so before I plan to listen and the next hour or so always goes very pleasantly even if the following hours sound even better.:D

[OD1]

I switch everything off except for the Gyrodec NCU power supply, it does not have a switch :)