Tell Me Something............Anything!

[alphaGT]

Sorry to hear this, you must be gutted. Hope it's all sorted soon.

I’ve invested a lot of time, effort and money into getting this surgery, so yes, I’m very disappointed. But it will all work out, it may take a month or two but I’ll try again. Now I’m more aware of how things work at this particular hospital, I’ll be better prepared next time.

Russell

[struth]

Not Good Russell. What can you say re politicians etc. They are all bastards

[Barry]

Not Good Russell. What can you say re politicians etc. They are all bastards

Looks like the US government really is in thrall to the Big Corporations.

Actually we're the same here in the UK, save it's not quite so obvious.

Hope you get everything sorted out soon Russell. Fingers crossed.

[Barry]

Been away from home and my system for about a week. Was in a bit of a rush to leave, and when I returned I found I had left the power amplifier on!

No damage, it was hardly warm, but have 'spent' 200 hours of capacitor lifetime.

[struth]

Been away from home and my system for about a week. Was in a bit of a rush to leave, and when I returned I found I had left the power amplifier on!

No damage, it was hardly warm, but have 'spent' 200 hours of capacitor lifetime.

Oops.

[Marco]

Lol.... If I had a solid-state amp, it'd be left switched on 24/7, just like the rest of my SS gear, as that's how it will always be ready to sound best and also less prone to failure!

In my experience, failures are most likely to occur when equipment is constantly switched on and off, and especially when left idle for long periods of time, and then abruptly powered up from (very) cold, as the power surge and 'shock' to the circuit can often blow components.

My CDP and DAC have been left switched on for about 10 years, so I shudder to think how many 'spent capacitor hours' that would equate to? Both still sound great, are used daily, and haven't given me a moment's bother!

Leaving low-power consumption solid-state equipment permanently powered up, thus allowed to continually operate in a 'steady state' is the best way to protect your gear and allow it always to perform, sonically, to its maximum potential.



Marco.

[Macca]

Not going to leave a Krell powered up all the time, I'd go bankrupt. Plus don't fancy a catastrophic failure happening when I'm not around.

I cannot perceive any difference in SQ from it from just after switch on to 3 or 4 hours in. Likewise with my various CD players.

[Marco]

The first point is very valid and should of course be considered if you're running a Class A amp! Valve equipment, of any description, similarly should NEVER be left switched on when unattended.

As for "catastrophic failures", in solid-state equipment they're liable to be fairly benign and contained within the equipment itself, without causing damage to anything externally, providing that there is sufficient safety protection in place, both within the design of the equipment itself and the mains supply it's connected to.

That being the case, there is really nothing to worry about

The reality is, failures of any description, in my experience, are more likely to occur when equipment is switched on from cold, and/or repeatedly on and off. That's also when a fuse is most likely to blow. If you think about it, how often do fuses blow whilst equipment is switched on?

Rarely, in my experience. It usually happens when they're first powered up. So that should illustrate when problems are most likely to arise!

That's my main point. Whether equipment, to your ears, sounds better left switched on or not is entirely subjective.

Marco.

[Barry]

The BBC have (or had) a policy of leaving equipment switched on most of the time.

Valve gear does take some warming up, and class A amplifiers just use too much power to be left on all the time (as well as running hot), but all my preamps, phonostages and CD player are powered up all the time. Apart from two moves of property and a few power cuts, my speakers have been powered up for the last forty-five years.

My annoyance with leaving the Quad 510 amps on, was more due to the fact I didn't check before I left home. Often I will forget and leave them left on overnight, but to do that for a week or more was salutory. Creeping senility!

[Macca]

I had a friend who left his Audiolab amp on 24/7 and it failed catastrophically, although it didn't burn the house down or anything it was irreparable by the time he got back. That cost me an amp too as I lent him a Marantz as a stop-gap (a good one too with level meters) which he still has 26 years later.


Some flakey Croft amps aside, I've had an amplifier fuse blow only once and it was in use (cranking up a Cambridge P70 into some Celestion A2) not on switch on.


I used to leave my CD player on 24/7 and a ribbon connector burned out.


I used to leave my Linn LK100 on all the time and now it sounds quite noisy (hiss through speakers with nothing connected) which I'm sure it didn't use to.


So my own experiences of 24/7 power up are not good and since I personally can't hear any difference between 'cold' and 'warmed up' I don't do it anymore.