Power amp---should I turn it off at night, or leave it on?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by JohnnyK, Jan 24, 2003.

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  1. Todd Fredericks

    Todd Fredericks Senior Member

    Location:
    A New Yorker
    I say put the stuff to bed at night and hit the off button...

    Todd
     
  2. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    I turn my power amps off because it would cost a fortune to leave them on. I heard that turning solid state equipment on and off was not the greatest thing for the equipment. It makes some sense to me, going from cold to hot constantly puts more stress on the parts than just leaving it idle. I know some recording studios keep everything on all of the time. My krell's digital section is on all of the time. The Krell's on /off switch in the front does not shut it down. The switch in the back will. My Krell has been on for about ten years now and I have not had to hire a maintainance man.:cool: I leave my mixing board on and the JBL powered speakers I have at school. They have been on for several years now. I have had no problems. In fact, the guys in the other school that shut there stuff off have had problems.:confused:

    Maybe you guys out on the west coast are worried about power. I have heard that there have been shortages in CA. You should get some good old nuclear power plants like we have here on the East coast.:laugh:
     
  3. Gary Freed

    Gary Freed Forum Resident

    Hi Johnny,

    I turn my equipment off when it's not being used. In addition, my preamp and amp also have their own exterior 6" fans running at 3.2 volts so you can't hear them. A little added cooling system.
     
  4. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    I turn it off at night. Safer that way.:)
     
  5. Casino

    Casino Senior Member

    Location:
    BossTown
    My McIntosh equipment has a standby mode. That's where I leave it; I don't leave it fully powered overnight.
     
  6. KLM

    KLM Senior Member

    For me, I generally turn my Home Theater stuff off when not in use. However it's a different story for my 2 channel audio system. With the exception of my tube amp (it will wear the tubes which can be expensive), I leave my preamp and cd player on all the time. My preamp doesn't have an off button and I was told that the heating and cooling caused by turning components on and off over time can be more harmful than leaving them on all the time. I've always done this with my components and have never had a problem.

    You know an interesting experiement would be if you took a light bulb and measured how many hours it lasted left on all the time versus the hours it lasted (while on) if it was turned on and off over time.

    Just a thought...
     
  7. Evan L

    Evan L Beatologist

    Location:
    Vermont
    Hmmm....I seem to be in the minority in regards to turning off one's amp at night. Steve is correct, in radio, there is a full time engineer to check up on the equipment, hence not needing to turn anything off.

    (reaches for the off switch):D
     
  8. ferric

    ferric Iron Dino In Memoriam

    Location:
    NC
    Tube gear - turned off when not in use
    Source gear - Arcam cd and DV-45A - on 24/7
    SS - on 24/7
    Tape gear - capstan motor spins when powered - off when not in use

    computers / monitors - off when not in use

    Have not had any trouble with this method. Knock on wood.
     
  9. wmspence

    wmspence Senior Member

    Location:
    Lexington, MA
    I have a BAT tube pre-amp that I always turn off to save the tubes and two Bryston 7BST 800 watt monoblocks that I used to never turn off....that on the advice of an engineer at Bryston who told me to turn them off if I was going away for a bit or not going to play them for a couple of days. I'll tell you though, turning them off makes quite a difference in my electric bill each month. I now turn 'em off. The sound is still quite nice and I save a few bucks for buying more music.

    Bill
     
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