View Full Version : Do you leave your SS amp on all the time ?
RobbieGong
26-01-2018, 23:38
Anyone leave their Solid State amplifier on all the time ?
walpurgis
27-01-2018, 00:02
Only when I forget. :)
RobbieGong
27-01-2018, 00:16
Only when I forget. :)
:)
Anyone leave their Solid State amplifier on all the time ?
Yes my Sony AV amp is switched on 24/7 :)
Marco.
Preamp(s) and phonostage left on 24/7.
Power amps switched on when needed and off when finished (unless I forget, and they are left on overnight :doh:).
Sources switched on when needed (CD player is left in standby mode).
RobbieGong
27-01-2018, 01:03
Preamp(s) and phonostage left on 24/7.
Power amps switched on when needed and off when finished (unless I forget, and they are left on overnight :doh:).
Sources switched on when needed (CD player is left in standby mode).
So power amp is same thing as an integrated ?
What about power supply for turntable ? on 24/7 or not ?
Audio Al
27-01-2018, 04:40
NO all off
Primalsea
27-01-2018, 08:18
I turn the active speakers to standby, so in terms of the power amps they are turned off. The father of a friend of mine used to leave his amp all the time and did so for many years. I repaired it for him once and the issue was just some of the smaller transistors had started to fail. There was brown heat marks on the pcb around them. When I mentioned it to my friend he said the amp was on for around 12 years.
prestonchipfryer
27-01-2018, 08:19
All off nowadays. Save a fortune on leccy. :lol:
All off except tuner, pre, and active speakers on standby.
Off, the TDA1541A runs hot! I have a couple of spares...
Not as precious about the other gear going off, but if am not likely to use it for the day then off it goes. Jez changed my view on this one...
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I have also changed my ways and everything is switched off when not in use. I'm pretty confident I can't tell the difference.
I would like to sneak into the house of someone who leaves everything on all the time and switch it off, give it a few hours and switch it back on again. Then secretly observe to see if they notice any difference when they come and sit down to listen. Would they be up from their seat after the first few bars of music, checking connections etc to find out why sound quality is not as expected? Or would they, as I'd expect, sit and listen quite happily?
RobbieGong
27-01-2018, 10:46
Off, the TDA1541A runs hot! I have a couple of spares...
Not as precious about the other gear going off, but if am not likely to use it for the day then off it goes. Jez changed my view on this one...
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hi Neil, What was Jez's view? I'm interested in what he thought as an electronics man working inside these things
:)
its not good for components, and can be dangerous
Stryder5
27-01-2018, 11:16
I worked for some time in IT and the forbidden thing was to turn off devices, whilst not identical they share types of components.
The worst were routers invariably if you were in a clients premises and turned the router off it would not reboot.
I leave everything on unless it has valves in it.
Pigmy Pony
27-01-2018, 11:17
I would have thought that anything that gets warm needs to be switched off. All off at mine except the CD player, as recommended by Densen.
jollyfix
27-01-2018, 11:27
All off...
walpurgis
27-01-2018, 11:29
Hi Neil, What was Jez's view? I'm interested in what he thought as an electronics man working inside these things
:)
Jez said it should all be turned off, but was happy for folk to leave things on as it provided work for him.
hifi_dave
27-01-2018, 11:38
This subject has been done to death. I believe the consensus was to turn it all off because it saves the life of the components and the gear takes only 20 minutes or so to come up to working temperature. If I'm doing a demo, I prefer to get the system running for 20 - 30 minutes before but that's all it takes.
I turn everything off except the router, because that is a pita to get connected again.
dantheman91
27-01-2018, 11:39
Amps off when not in use....
Mike Reed
27-01-2018, 11:50
When I had virtually all Naim, on 24/7. Now with valves, off, obviously. Naim tuner only thing on 24/7. TV on stand-by when not in use as there's no on/off switch and the only TV repair I've ever had was occasioned by a dry joint caused by turning on/off (admittedly that was a CRT)
I was lead to believe that charging and discharging capacitors frequently reduced their life. Furthermore, electronics like to be kept fairly warm.
On the other hand, cheaper kit which is many decades old still works flawlessly, so more upmarket kit should be more robust (theory !!!). My jury's out on this one, though my 01 tuner is 27 years old, unserviced, works perfectly and sounds superb.
Think it depends upon the kit and your domestic supply infrastructure, but I would suggest, if leaving on, that a serviceable RCD is in the circuit. My individual radials each have their own, so only one piece of kit could be affected should anything happen.
Ive seen both sides of the argument including Jez's experinece of so may repairs being due to heat from kit being left on. What rarely gets discussed are our listening habits. If I listened more than once a day, every day, I'd be more inclined to leave my amp on. If I only listened at weekends, or occasionally, I'd be far less inclined to do so. I'd also factor in how hot my amp got when on idle.
Given that I'm an occasional listener and my amp gets hot, I'm an "off" guy.
RobbieGong
27-01-2018, 12:09
Jez said it should all be turned off, but was happy for folk to leave things on as it provided work for him.
Oh yeah, I remember now and that it did make me chuckle at the time :)
MikeMusic
27-01-2018, 14:58
Off every night.
On every morning
:)
Spectral Morn
27-01-2018, 15:55
After a DAC of mine caught fire, everything is switched off, way too risky to leave gear on. I managed to get the DAC disconnected and out of the house (always wondered if I could do that with a piece of electronics burning, not easy but I could) but the smell lingered for nearly a week.
Switch it all off is my opinion now, regardless of whether it sounds better left on.
Off every night.
On every morning
:)
+1
Pieoftheday
27-01-2018, 17:22
Anyone leave their Solid State amplifier on all the time ?
Standby, only off if im away, makes bugger all dif to the sound this end
Pieoftheday
27-01-2018, 17:24
After a DAC of mine caught fire, everything is switched off, way too risky to leave gear on. I managed to get the DAC disconnected and out of the house (always wondered if I could do that with a piece of electronics burning, not easy but I could) but the smell lingered for nearly a week.
Switch it all off is my opinion now, regardless of whether it sounds better left on.
Something to consider, nah this road lies madness, should i turn fridge off? It gets hot, supposed to?
walpurgis
27-01-2018, 18:19
Leaving gear on could invalidate your home insurance.
carruthersesq
27-01-2018, 19:03
Only thing I turn off is the TT, everything else on 24/7. I pass the TV audio though the DAC and into the amp so it gets used a lot with 3 kids in the house. ��
Mike Reed
27-01-2018, 21:18
Leaving gear on could invalidate your home insurance.
Why? As far as insurance companies are concerned, hifi kit probably equates with appliances. Fridges/freezers and other appliances either on 24/7 or overnight are as liable to malfunction (Grenfell Tower, e.g.). Besides, a modern electrical supply installation is about as safe as it's been in history.
walpurgis
27-01-2018, 21:28
Why? As far as insurance companies are concerned, hifi kit probably equates with appliances. Fridges/freezers and other appliances either on 24/7 or overnight are as liable to malfunction (Grenfell Tower, e.g.). Besides, a modern electrical supply installation is about as safe as it's been in history.
Read your T&C's have you?
hifinutt
27-01-2018, 23:02
if i left my amps on we would need no central heating on !!! heaven knows what the leccie bill would be . yes maybe a nice class d amp could be left on but not most amps . whats the point anyway ? they sound fine after a few mins
if i left my amps on we would need no central heating on !!! heaven knows what the leccie bill would be . yes maybe a nice class d amp could be left on but not most amps . whats the point anyway ? they sound fine after a few mins
Some do say that leaving them on all the time stresses the components less than starting up and shutting down. So there is an argument from reliability as well as sound quality. Electronic engineers seem to be divided on the reliability argument. You'd imagine someone, somewhere has done soak-off tests and published the results but if they have I have never seen anyone link to them whenever this subject comes up on forums. Which is pretty often.
walpurgis
27-01-2018, 23:40
Some do say that leaving them on all the time stresses the components less than starting up and shutting down.
The same has been said of light bulbs. Not seen any evidence though.
The same has been said of light bulbs. Not seen any evidence though.
Light bulbs do tend to fail on switch on more often than just blow when already on but that's because they are light bulbs not amplifiers. The old type you can't buy no more I mean. I don't know how these mercury-filled 'eco friendly' jobs blow because it has never happened to me yet. I've got a few that are coming up to ten years of use.
walpurgis
27-01-2018, 23:48
Poxy LED household bulbs seem to last about two months.
Poxy LED household bulbs seem to last about two months.
LED go a lot quicker. I got sent a big box of the mercury vapour jobbies free of charge by the power company ten years ago. I've only used 3. I used to replace incandescents every 3 to 6 months. I've never replaced these, still using the original 3 bulbs and one gets used every day. At this rate that box-full will last me out. One less expense. Use less leccy too.
Mike Reed
28-01-2018, 10:16
Read your T&C's have you?
To the letter. Of course, the A-V section (acc. damage) is separate from the contents (which would include appliances). I've yet to read ANY directions/exclusions/caveats/whatever regarding usage of A-V kit, except for the usual (adaptations, irregular repairs etc.) in any policy I've had in the past decades. Understandably, if it came to the crunch of a sizable claim, questions might be asked, but who's to know what operational system you use for your hifi ?
Expanding on this theme, dedicated supply installations might be frowned upon, even though they meet reg's and are passed by the sparks, for the simple reason that they're not on a standard domestic ring main. It could be argued, though, that they're safer if properly and fully installed.
hifi_dave
28-01-2018, 10:34
Light bulbs do tend to fail on switch on more often than just blow when already on but that's because they are light bulbs not amplifiers. The old type you can't buy no more I mean. I don't know how these mercury-filled 'eco friendly' jobs blow because it has never happened to me yet. I've got a few that are coming up to ten years of use.
One of those Eco friendly, curly glass bulbs proved to me why certain electrical goods should be switched off. Last year we had one of those spark, drop hot bits onto the table and start to burn. I dread to think what would have happened if we had been out or even out of the room..:eek:
In reply to the original question; worth bearing in mind that some components fair worse at operational temperature:
"Operating conditions directly affect the life of an aluminum electrolytic capacitor. The ambient temperature has the largest effect on life. The relationship between life and temperature follows a chemical reaction formula called Arrhenius' Law of Chemical Activity. Simply put, the law says that life of a capacitor doubles for every 10 degree Celsius decrease in temperature (within limits)."
http://www.illinoiscapacitor.com/tech-center/life-calculators.aspx
With this in mind (and the H&S aspects already mentioned) - my SS amp is switched off when not in use.
MikeMusic
29-01-2018, 19:31
Another reason I turn my Belles Pre off...
It is SS but has 2 little valves
Another reason I turn my Belles Monos off...
That amount of heat requires too much electricity for a cheapskate
:)
DAVEDWACK
30-01-2018, 20:42
When I had virtually all Naim, on 24/7. Now with valves, off, obviously. Naim tuner only thing on 24/7. TV on stand-by when not in use as there's no on/off switch and the only TV repair I've ever had was occasioned by a dry joint caused by turning on/off (admittedly that was a CRT)
I was lead to believe that charging and discharging capacitors frequently reduced their life. Furthermore, electronics like to be kept fairly warm.
On the other hand, cheaper kit which is many decades old still works flawlessly, so more upmarket kit should be more robust (theory !!!). My jury's out on this one, though my 01 tuner is 27 years old, unserviced, works perfectly and sounds superb.
Think it depends upon the kit and your domestic supply infrastructure, but I would suggest, if leaving on, that a serviceable RCD is in the circuit. My individual radials each have their own, so only one piece of kit could be affected should anything happen.
Hi Mike,
I’ve always left my Esl57/63/2905s powered up 24/7. (Apart from when I’m away on holiday for 7+ days) I was always lead to believe it was best to leave electrostatics powered up, even though I can’t really remember the reasons why. I’ve noticed that you have 2905s so do you switch them off after each session then? Does anybody else have an opinion on this?
Cheers.....Dave
Mike Reed
30-01-2018, 22:38
Yes, Dave. I only have two sessions a week, and fire them up with everything else. I've only heard of 24/7 operation regarding 57s and I've no idea why or where, so am a bit sceptical there. My 2905s sound fine well within the half-hour of firing up. (note to self; really must sort out that avatar as my cat can no longer act as a super-tweeter on my ESLs !)
DAVEDWACK
30-01-2018, 23:29
Hi Mike,
Thanks for that, mine are used daily, because apart from music the tv sound gets played through them. Still perhaps it might be a good idea to switch them off overnight. Let’s see if anybody else has an opinion, specifically regarding electrostatics, I’m genuinely interested to know.
Cheers....Dave
Mike Reed
31-01-2018, 08:19
Interesting, Dave. I also have my TV routed (line level interconnect) through the hifi, but I use headphones a lot, esp. for dramas. However, my I/C is straight into my can-amp., which I can divert to pre. when needed. I'm all valve (apart from can-amp. and tuner), so firing up everything for an hour's listening is not really viable.
The days of pressing the mute button on my Naim 552 when I had ProAcs and 135s are long gone. Maybe the introduction of ESLs started a gradual metamorphosis, though I did have valved power and CDP before the 2905s.
Presumably you have a reasonably uncompromised rectangular room, Dave.
DAVEDWACK
31-01-2018, 15:04
Hi Mike,
Yes, my room is a 20’ x 16’ kind of rectangle and I have my 2905s playing down the long way 4’ from the rear wall and about 8’ apart. I used to use a Quad Classic which drives the 2905s just fine but recently I’ve been trying a Devialet 120 and which I’m rather impressed with, especially since it has so much flexibility including a very good configurable phono stage. (All imho of course).
Cheers....Dave
Hi Mike,
I’ve always left my Esl57/63/2905s powered up 24/7. (Apart from when I’m away on holiday for 7+ days) I was always lead to believe it was best to leave electrostatics powered up, even though I can’t really remember the reasons why. I’ve noticed that you have 2905s so do you switch them off after each session then? Does anybody else have an opinion on this?
Cheers.....Dave
Apart from two house moves and the odd power cut, my Quad 57s have been left powered up constantly for the last forty odd years. Peter Walker of Quad only switched off his electrostatic speakers when he went away on his holidays.
Regarding the 57s, I believe the current inrush on switch-on can, over time, damage the diodes in the Cockcroft-Walton EHT voltage multiplier.
hifinutt
31-01-2018, 16:33
Hi Mike,
I’ve always left my Esl57/63/2905s powered up 24/7. (Apart from when I’m away on holiday for 7+ days) I was always lead to believe it was best to leave electrostatics powered up, even though I can’t really remember the reasons why. I’ve noticed that you have 2905s so do you switch them off after each session then? Does anybody else have an opinion on this?
Cheers.....Dave
yes , i always left my logan s powered up and when i did turn them off for hols i noticed it took a couple of days for them to come fully on stream and sound brilliant again
Mike Reed
31-01-2018, 21:17
Yes, there was something about the 57s, and mine did take a fair time to really get going. I'm surprised about the Summit Xs, though, Phil. I'm pretty convinced that there's no advantage in leaving my 2905s on, and twice a week probably wouldn't warrant it even if it was recommended, though at least the consumption is only around 2 amp's, I believe.
I suppose the only way to be sure is to ask Quad in Huntingdon. My friend with 988s turns his off. Maybe the later models don't reflect Peter Walker's advice.
jandl100
03-02-2018, 06:17
Off.
With rare exceptions where my befuddled brain tells me it really did make a difference.
My about to depart Auralic DAC was one of these - I'm convinced it took over an hour to come on song and it was fairly ordinary before that. Quite superb in many ways after that, though. My Wadia 151 PowerDAC is another that I keep on 24/7 when it is in play in my system.
One of those Eco friendly, curly glass bulbs proved to me why certain electrical goods should be switched off. Last year we had one of those spark, drop hot bits onto the table and start to burn. I dread to think what would have happened if we had been out or even out of the room..:eek:
Nightmare. Without deviating the thread too much, I changed every bulb in our place to modern LED type just last year. Quality of light so much nicer than those bloody awful cfl types.
As for the hifi, well most modern kit from well respected manufacturers nowadays has a standby function which is designed to barely use any electricity. Like our TV which even when you press the off button there's still a LED showing and pressing a button on the remote activates it again. I'd imagine the only way to stop that would be to unplug the thing, which I'm too lazy to do.
hifi_dave
03-02-2018, 11:28
We have three TVs and all can be switched off completely by a separate on/off switch not just standby.
After the lightbulb debacle, I did a bit of Googling and there was quite a lot on there. After that, we got rid of all those curly, mini neon, bulbs and replaced with conventional shaped LED bulbs. Hopefully, they are safer.
jandl100
03-02-2018, 11:39
I vaguely recall there was an EU plan to ban standby mode on household electronics.
Over millions of items they use one hell of a lot of energy.
Mike Reed
03-02-2018, 15:30
We have three TVs and all can be switched off completely by a separate on/off switch not just standby.
After nearly seven years with our excellent Sony, I'm still looking for an on/off switch. Even allowing for my eyesight, I feel I should have found one by now.
Blueflash
06-02-2018, 20:58
I leave the AN CDT3, the DDDAC and ATC SCA2 on permanently but the ATC50A`s get turned off.
Digital stuff sounds horrible for the first hour or so when just switched on, but as I listen for about 2 hours at a time I couldn't stand the waiting.
The 50A`s need 1/2 hour before a listening session.
It’s on most of the time. The DAC goes off more because it runs in class A and the DAC chip runs hot. If I know my system won’t be played for the day then off it goes.
brucew268
10-03-2018, 21:39
Twenty years back Theta DS Pro Gen V DAC only got its chops after powered up for 48 hours. Unplug it for a minute and you had to start all over. Reportedly the Yggdrasil (same designer) has the same sort of behaviour. My Classe Audio preamplifier had no power switch. The Classe Audio power amp did better after warmed up for 20-30 minutes, but could be switched off and back on without penalty. ...So I keep the full system on all the time unless I'm going to be away for a few days.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.3 Copyright © 2026 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.