24/7 solid state amp and pre

[repman]

I had a friend of mine tell me this weekend that I should leave my solid state amp/pre on 24/7 he says it takes a few weeks for a solid state amp and preamp to start sounding good after they have been turned off and it takes only 1-2 hours for a tube amp to blossom .

What has been your experience does this sound correct?


Thanks, larry

 

[danman]

If you have to wait a few weeks for your amp to warm up than I think it is time to change.

Totally untrue! However your local hydro company would love for you to buy some shares!!!!!!!:ROFL:

 

[amey01]

My experience - totally untrue too. Mine SS amp takes about 20 minutes and my valve preamp I find about 10-15 minutes. There are gradual improvements over the next hour, but nothing to get worked up about.

Now, if there are further improvements over the intervening days/weeks, I'd imagine they are so miniscule - what's the point? Don't bother - just enjoy your music. Worry about speaker placement which will give you far greater return than wasting electricity.

 

[risabet]

BS, most SS amps I've heard/owned/sold take an hour or two with music playing to sound their best. Tubes a half-hour to an hour. IMO leaving anything on 24/7 is unconscionably wasteful of resources for a few more minutes of "perfect sound."

 

[tonepub]

Most of the SS power amps I've heard, about 10-15 min, but I can usually hear a subtle shift with preamps after they've been on for 24 hours. I've always left SS phono preamps on all the time, as they only draw a couple of watts, and SS preamps not that much either.

Depends on the gear.

Most gear that's been left off for a long period of time, say when you go on vacation for a week or two, will take a couple of days to get back to sounding its best though...

 

[Rich]

Actually, I think it has less to do with the sound due to warm up, and more to do with the longevity of the pre and amp. Turning solid state devices on and off is a lot harder on them than just leaving them on, and I believe it will reduce their life span. Leaving them on, while worse for energy conservation, is better for the lifespan of the product, I believe. Of course, this is just based on word of mouth from some different engineer types. I am no engineer so don't profess to really have a clue about this sort of stuff. Roger Sanders was one of the people who told me this.

 

[repman]

Thanks for all the input guys I appreciate it.

I will be leaving it in the auto mode from now on to turn on when it senses a signal.

Larry

 

[amey01]

Actually, I think it has less to do with the sound due to warm up, and more to do with the longevity of the pre and amp. Turning solid state devices on and off is a lot harder on them than just leaving them on, and I believe it will reduce their life span. Leaving them on, while worse for energy conservation, is better for the lifespan of the product, I believe. Of course, this is just based on word of mouth from some different engineer types. I am no engineer so don't profess to really have a clue about this sort of stuff. Roger Sanders was one of the people who told me this.

This is the age-old debate. Very true, but heat is the number 1 enemy of electronic components and what do electronic components create when they're turned on?........HEAT. Short of performing a test where something is left on and something is turned on and off (over several years, not accelerated) we'll never know.

 

[tonyc]

Depends on the gear. I was told by the dealer who sold me my Rowland to leave it on and that is what Ive done. Same for my Ayre. I turn my tube stuff off.

 

[MiTT]

This is the age-old debate. Very true, but heat is the number 1 enemy of electronic components and what do electronic components create when they're turned on?........HEAT. Short of performing a test where something is left on and something is turned on and off (over several years, not accelerated) we'll never know.

Actually, with the sorts of gear I've worked with throughout my career, inrush current is one of the greatest contributors to increased MTBF. Heat is also a significant contributor, but not in the way that you may think. Many electrical components DO have sensitivities to heat, but as long as thermal management is properly considered in the design this shouldn't be a factor in decreasing a given component's mortality. In my current field (lighting), most lamps actually become more efficient as they approach their elevated operating temperature. That's not to say that they can't overheat, because they can, but normally they do much better when turned on, allowed to come to temp and then left alone to just operate. On properly designed electronics the biggest contributors to early failures in electrical components due to heat are lack of convection (because people have stacked components on top of one another or not allowed ample clearance around a device for free airflow), and dust! A buildup of dust is similar to throwing a blanket on top of the component.

Most of my tube gear has a "standby" mode where a low voltage is applied to the tubes to keep the filaments at a slightly elevated temperature. From what I've learned the intention is to optimize performance at startup as well as reduce the effects of inrush current and thermal shock to the tubes, thus extending their life. I usually turn my SS amp on about a half hour prior to listening, and I often leave it on all weekend when I know that I'll be able to enjoy some extended listening sessions.

 

[danman]

My new Bryston 4B-SST/2 has what is called "softstart" that is easier on your house current and also the inrush to the amp. Since they have a 20 year warantee, I imagine this is tested during their brutal 100 burn in test before sending.

Listed at 550 watts/ch in 4 ohms so the current drain is quite high on a breaker.

 

[Tosh]

I have heard from reputable sources (that will remain anonymous as I can't remember them) that one should leave stuff turned on as the electrolytic caps in the power supply get, um, 'better' the longer they stay charged. But I wouldn't leave a class A amp turned on all night (although when I build my own I would like a 'standby' setting to keep it warm and the caps charged).

In terms of cost for electricity think about like this: At $0.11 per kWh, it costs $1 to burn a watt for a year. Look at your electric bill and adjust for your rate. In my case (I just turned the bias up to about 160mA per rail from 20-30mA so my stereo amp idles at about 0.7A at +/-60V = 40W) I guess I'll spend $40-45 per year idling the amp.

 

[OldMonolith]

I agree with Mitt regarding startup! In the professional world, its not all uncommon for somebody to unplug some equipment and remove it after its been running continuously for years and sometimes decades. And often, when finallly powered down, it won't want to come back up even though it was fine before hand. That cold power up and surge is rough...

I wouldn't want to buy something that isn't designed to run continously. And I wouldn't put it in a place to compromise that by containing too much heat. Though, I would turn off tube gear for the tube life (power amps) and if it was a huge Class A SS, I might again for the sake of overheating the room unless listening is planned the next day.

I ran a Carver Silver 9T monoblock pair and my hybrid tube linestage for about 13-14 years except for moves or power outages. Tubes in the linestage ran about 7 years in one case before they got noisy and then about 6 years the second time. I'm on my 3rd pair of tubes now and about 2 years in.

OldMonolith

 

[MDSPHOTO]

I had a friend of mine tell me this weekend that I should leave my solid state amp/pre on 24/7 he says it takes a few weeks for a solid state amp and preamp to start sounding good after they have been turned off and it takes only 1-2 hours for a tube amp to blossom .

What has been your experience does this sound correct?


Thanks, larry

I leave my Bryston 500 Watt Monoblocks on 24/7 during the winter to use them as a heat source!