Do you always keep your gear on ?

[lugano]

I wonder if it makes sense to never turn off the gear. What do the other members do ? After a couple of hours from turning everything on and listening, I kinda feel "a better sound". Am I nuts ?

 

[twich54]

I'll buy 20-40 minutes of "warm up", beyond that I believe it's the psychoacoustic part of our hobby taking over.

 

[Craig]

My tube amp takes about 5 minutes to warm up. During that time you can actually hear very faint ticks and pops as the glass and transformers heat up and expand.

 

[MiTT]

Yes and no...

I power up my BAT amp about 20 minutes prior to any serious listening. My CD player, Phono stage and Pre-amp all have a "standby" mode where low voltage is applied to the filaments to keep them warm when idle. They are ready to go after about 30 seconds, but all seem to sound better after a half hour or so of listening.

 

[kwr]

I wonder if it makes sense to never turn off the gear. What do the other members do ? After a couple of hours from turning everything on and listening, I kinda feel "a better sound". Am I nuts ?

Well to make you feel better I can suggest to you that it is entirely possible. Our Plinius system sounds very ordinary when it is switched back on when returning from a holiday. It takes about 24 hrs to come up to speed (cdp, preamp, amps). The system is always on and another rise in quality is experienced when switching the amps into Class A from AB which is the effective standby mode. There is about 30 minutes of warmup from AB to A.

With another, valve based system with monoblocs with very large output transformers there is a warmup period of about 40 minutes from switch on. I have never particularly noticed an improvement in sound quality beyond that even though the transformer casing continues to increase in temperature for about an hour beyond that. We do not leave this system on secondary to considerations of valve life and heat.

Kevin

 

[lugano]

We do not leave this system on secondary to considerations of valve life and heat.

Kevin

Yeah, when I posted the poll I thought about the question being unfair to glass lovers - that's why I added an escape lane ("yes, excepted PA"). Valves begin to die the very moment you turn them on for the first time... during the week I have about 1 hour of listening handy, when coming home from work - then I have to beat it, because it's TV time for the girls (wife and daughter) and I can't wait 40 mins for my gear to reach performance... anyway, till now it's a tie, vote people, vote !!

 

[DTB300]

Well to make you feel better I can suggest to you that it is entirely possible. Our Plinius system sounds very ordinary when it is switched back on when returning from a holiday. It takes about 24 hrs to come up to speed (cdp, preamp, amps). The system is always on and another rise in quality is experienced when switching the amps into Class A from AB which is the effective standby mode. There is about 30 minutes of warmup from AB to A.

As another Plinius owner, I completely agree with these statements on the amp. Like you, I have my amp on all the time unless leaving for long periods of time for vacations.

For my other components, if they have Stand-by mode, I use that, otherwise everything stays on.

Dan

 

[MarkNewbie]

As another Plinius owner, I completely agree with these statements on the amp. Like you, I have my amp on all the time unless leaving for long periods of time for vacations.

For my other components, if they have Stand-by mode, I use that, otherwise everything stays on.

Dan

I do exactly what you guys do. Just do it with different stuff. Probabaly do it at different times too. Well maybe a little differently but pretty much the same but with different stuff. Did I already say that? Ever do that? Ever wonder if someone else does it the same but differently? Anyone seen my other sock?

 

[Phil]

only leave my phono stage on all the time as
I worry about valve life in my amp and SACD player . My Musical Fidelity equipment has illuminated feet which change colour as it warms up . It takes about 40 mins to go from red to blue , through orange and violet . Maybe its a gimmick , I dont know , but its certainly a talking point !

 

[JonFo]

I leave most of the gear on or in active standby. The amps and power to the Martin Logan outlets (I wired the room to have a central feed to all outlets for the ML’s so I can provide balanced power), these are cycled before I start a session in the HT and after I’m done.
The automation system cycles a series of relays to stager turn-on and shut-down of the rig. It has to, as there are five amps (and 13 channels) in the rig.

Keeping power off to the speakers ensures they do not collect dust (My Monoliths pre-date the ‘music signal sense’ electronics).

Sonically, this works just fine, I don’t hear or measure any change just after turn-on or hours later.

 

[Robin]

Power On or Off All The Time...

lugano,

I don't how or why I missed this thread???

Anyway, I had asked this very question after I first became a member here in this oldie but goodie thread:


http://www.martinloganowners.com/~tdacquis/forum/showthread.php?t=871&highlight=turn+equipment


Personally, I leave my SS receiver and SS amplifier in active stand-by all the time unless I away from home for an extended amount of time, like vacation etc.
Though I do understand why those of us with tubes gear do not leave their tubed equipment on all the time, given the limited life of tubes.

 

[Tiberium]

I can see if you are running a tube based system that has physical parts to warm up but otherwise transistors, capacitors, and resistors need no warm up time. Even the new logans turn off the power to the panel after a short period of time.

 

[jmschnur]

I leave my system on all the time except for major thunder storms and power faliures This has worked well for 25 years with my Amber premap, Hafler amps and Carver 1.5T etc.

On-off surge seesm to worse than long term mild warmth.

It is critical to keep good ventilation.

Joel

 

[amey01]

I find my system provides good sound after no more than 30 minutes of warm up. More importantly I find is that sound actually has to be playing throught the system - the warm up is not complete if it is just sitting there idle. I never listen seriously until about 30 minutes of music has been playing.

 

[chipdivot]

leave on

I leave my equipment on all the time. I have done this since taking recording engineering classes at ABC records in 1977-78 and they said they leave theirs on because it sounds better. I have never had a problem with a piece of equipment...all SS.

I also play a CD 3 times thru before listening...the sound opens up so much more...especially the mids and bottom end. If it's a CD I want to listen to and tweak the system I leave it in the player and it sounds great from the beginning. If I even open the door of the player it takes time for it to get back to the same sound quality. I heard about doing this a couple years ago and thought it was "bunk" until I tried it. Especially during times when I don't have much time to sit and listen...maybe one CD...then I don't have to wait for the equipment and room to sound good again.

An old used guitar played for thousands of hours sounds better than a new one right out of the box.

 

[tonyc]

I leave my SS stuff (Ayre CD and Rowland amp) on but turn my tube stuff (preamp, phono pre and DAC) off.

 

[Jeff Zaret]

Me too


Jeff

 

[Joey_V]

Me too


Jeff

I put mine on standby.... I thought I read somewhere turning it on and off isnt a good thing either.

Not sure where I read it though, losing my memory at my age does not bode well for the future methinks...

Joey

 

[pat17]

I switch on and off when needed be...

It's hot enough out there without adding the setup's heat to the room's temperature!

 

[MotorToad]

I said "power amps excepted," but I really only leave my preamp on. The manual said to, though I never did when it was new. Now that it's having issues with the pots I leave it on.