Do you leave your audio gear on 24/7?

Some modern gear (CD and DVD players, VCRs, DirecTV receivers) only go into a "standby" mode when you turn them off. As for me, I'll sometimes leave the power- and preamp on overnight if I'm going to be listening to something all day, but otherwise, no. If I had vintage tube gear though, I would definitely turn that stuff off...heck, I'd even unplug it. Restored or not, I'm not taking a chance on something going wrong while it's unattended. I'd rather have cruddy sound for a short while than worry about safety of family and home.

 

Off when finished listening or out of the house.

 

With the amount of lightening we get, I have on/off switches between the plugs and the outlets!

 

I forgot to mention that even though I turn-off all of my gear, some stays in standby and I leave my PS Audio P300 on all the time. It actually gives better lightening protection when on.

 

Leaving things on, solid state or TUBE ESPECIALLY is not a good thing. Everything goes off when not in use.

 

I'm with Dave. The remote for my BAT preamp has a switch that smoothly ramps the volume down to zero when you press it; if you press it again, it ramps up to the previous level. This is a very handy feature when someone's at the door, or the phone rings. I then click the mute button on the remote, and turn the SETs off. Then I have to touch the power button on the unit briefly to put it in standby mode (holding the same button down for a couple of seconds turns the preamp off completely). You can say what you like about the sound of the BAT VK50SE, but the user interface can't be faulted.

I'll state my opinion on digital source components once again in case you missed it - leave your CD/SACD/DVD/DVD-A player, transport or DAC on 24x7. Your ears will thank you. All modern players power down the laser when it's not in motion, so have no fear that the life of the laser is compromised by leaving a player on all the time. Digital circuits seem to take an amazingly long time to sound their best, so leave it on.

 

My SS receiver is part of HT, so it is on most of the day. However, I do turn it off at night.

 

A properly working piece of tube equipment will sound 98% within 5 minutes of use if it takes a prolonged warm up its time to go under the hood some parts/tubes are getting tired. All tubes have a usuable life span leaving them on 24/7 does more to shorten there life then turning them off/on once a day. Steve is giving some good advise tube amps do not have the safety margin they can fail in a catastrophic manner ruining your gear or even cause a fire.

Craig

 

Standby is safe 24/7? This thread has be scared that my house is going to burn down.

 

stand by is safe

 

I would leave my SS on if I wasn't so cheap. I hate giving the power co. money.

 

I only keep my powerline conditioner plugged in, but other than that everything is off. Steve is right on tubes...best kept off for safety.

I like hearing the improvement in sound as my VT100 warms up. It's amazing how much better it gets in 20 minutes.

 

My grandmother's 13" TV in her kitchen once was the victim of lightning. It didn't harm the electronics. All it did was fuse the pull-on/push-off power switch permanently on, so she had to plug it in each time she wanted to watch it.

 

Hi,

I must either really appreciate the final 2% or i've had different experiences. I find that most tube gear needs 30-60 minutes until it really sounds best.

Take care,
Jeffrey

 

I turn my tube amplifier off everyday after my listening session is over.




Ed Hurdle
HeavyDistortion

 

No way!

 

Me too... i turn off my studio when i'm done...

 

I used to leave all my gear on, but now I always turn EVERYTHING off. Yes, there is some difference in sound quality when you first kick it on, but not enough to justify leaving it on all the time. Besides, any component that is turned on is going to FRY if you get a direct lightning hit, no matter what kind of suppressor you've got. Not likely, but not worth chancing. (In fact, in severe thunderstorms I unplug all my electronics, INCLUDING my line protectors.)

 

Tubes off when done listening. Pre-amp on standby if just leaving the room for a short time. Power conditioner and CD player on 24/7 except when on vacation. In my experience, CD players sound much better after being turned on at least 24 hrs.

 

I took a lightening hit while the system was running. To their credit my PS Audio P300 and Ultimate Outlets protected every thing. I had to power back up, but everything was fine except me, I shock for a week and half afterward!

 

On if I am home listening and off when done.

 

My CDP and the DADC are "on" all the time (except when I am leaving for vacation or longer weekends, and of course when there's a thunderstorm outside). I also used to leave my pre on (it's tubes lasting for some 3-5 years), but nowadays I shut it down when I go to bed. Of cours I never leave the Power-amp on. Too much energy waste.

 

Always OFF when not in use.

The idea of leaving the equipment ON all the time has never made any sense to me. Every electrical component in the world has a lifespan, measured by how many hours its on. Leaving your stuff on all the time effectively makes that reciever that would have lasted 10 years last five. Not to mention what happens if it shorts out while you are not at home to watch it?

 

There's a lot of misinformation going on here. The short answer is that it depends on the design of the gear you are using.

First of all if you are using tube equipment, the answer is obvious. Most tube gear is not designed to be left on all the time - especially power amps. However, some tube equipment does leave a little current going to the tubes in order to extend their life span. The reason for this is that the actual use of a tube (and other parts) isn't the thing that kills it, it's the shock of being turned on.

Ever have a light bulb blow when you switch it on? Don't you experience most light bulb failures when you turn them on? That's a very simple analogy, but I think it's fairly apt.

Many solid state/digital designers also design their equipment to be always on (or at least partially powered). The reasons are two fold: 1) See above and 2) everything has an optimal operating temperature and it can take hours (or more) to reach it. Tubes don't have this problem because they reach their optimum temperature much faster (for obvious reasons). While I don't believe the myth of break-in (except for speakers and cantilevers), I do hear big differences in sound after something has warmed up (particularly with digital).

This varies obviously for every manufacturer, but it is not bad for a piece of equipment if the designer meant it to be always on.

Another thing, most crt televisions always have some part of their circuits on. Among other things, that's why you are able to turn your set on so quickly.

 

Solid state yes, tubes no.