[fado]

I have a Furman IT-REFERENCE 20i power conditioner purchased ~2014. All of my components are plugged into it: Modwright KWA 150 SE amp, Modwright LS100 preamp, Lampizator Amber 3+ DAC, and Innuos ZENith Mk3 streamer. I have always used the guidance given to me that the amplifier is last on and first off. I would continue to use last on when powering up my system but I have always wondered if I could just power off all components at the same time by just shutting off the power conditioner.

[JCarney]

I've been told by manufacturers that the pre amp should be the first piece on, and the last piece off. I would not plug the amp into anything other than a wall outlet due to it drawing more power then anything else in the system.

JCarney

[mix4fix]

I want to piggy-back on this: what about components that do not have a power switch, and the option of leaving them on?

[veloceleste]

Another scenario: Equipment with a 12volt trigger. With a trigger, the preamp turns on the power amp and also turns off the power amp after the preamp is switched off. Any cause for concern?

[fado]

mix4fix: All of my components have power switches, some have a rear placed main on/off switch with a front on/off switch for convenience. A long time ago ?2013? Dan Wright said that he leaves his solid state KWA150 amp on all the time. I have an Ayon CD-07s CD player with tubes and the manufacturer says to turn it off if it will not be used for more than an hour. I hate to leave my other tube components on all the time because of the cost of premium new tubes as well as the cost and scarcity of some of my vintage tubes. I believe all my components have some kind of soft-start feature to lessen the impact of turning on the component.

JCarney: I have heard the recommendation to plug amps directly into the wall receptacle but I live in a semi-rural area and we do have our share power surges and outages and I don't want to gamble on loosing a component that I may not be able to afford now. Also, the Furman
IT- REFERENCE 20i power conditioner has four receptacles specifically for amplifiers. The unit weighs 84lbs and supposedly uses Power Factor technology meet high transient current demands without affecting sound quality. I have not ever heard about the preamp being the first on last off component - I will ask around about that. Thanks

[clpetersen]

Another scenario: Equipment with a 12volt trigger. With a trigger, the preamp turns on the power amp and also turns off the power amp after the preamp is switched off. Any cause for concern?

No cause for concern. The (well-designed) pre-amp, when powering off, will cut the 12V trigger first, hence the amp will go into its shut-down cycle while the pre-amp is also shutting down.

[timind]

I have all components, except the amp, plugged into a Furman power conditioner. The components plugged into the Furman are plugged into GE Cync smart plugs which are controlled through an app on my phone. The smart plugs are scheduled on at 5 p.m., and off at 10:30 p.m. If I want to listen to the stereo at any other time, I can turn the plugs on through the app.

Do the smart plugs affect the sound? I don't know, and honestly don't care.

https://www.gelighting.com/smart-home/plugs/indoor

[Rusty Jefferson]

.... I have always used the guidance given to me that the amplifier is last on and first off. I would continue to use last on when powering up my system but I have always wondered if I could just power off all components at the same time by just shutting off the power conditioner.

It's possible there wouldn't be any problems with this but as you've said you'll continuing to turn the amplifier on last at startup, so you'll still be switching individual components off anyway so everything doesn't power up at once when you turn on the conditioner. What have you gained?

With large high current direct coupled solid state amplifiers, don't mess around. A small burp or chirp at power down could take out a driver. Amplifiers on last and off first is the safest path.

[Speedskater]

In pro audio the turn On/Off sequences are:

Turn-On
1] sources
2] controllers / pre-amps
3] power amps

Turn-Off
1] power amps
2] controllers / pre-amps
3] sources

[mick wolfe]

In pro audio the turn On/Off sequences are:

Turn-On
1] sources
2] controllers / pre-amps
3] power amps

Turn-Off
1] power amps
2] controllers / pre-amps
3] sources

 

[veloceleste]

No cause for concern. The (well-designed) pre-amp, when powering off, will cut the 12V trigger first, hence the amp will go into its shut-down cycle while the pre-amp is also shutting down.

Thanks for the explanation.

[fado]

Thanks All, I will check with Dan Wright to see how my LS100 and KWA150 SE interact with regard to the 12V trigger mentioned above. The ability to switch all components off by just using the power conditioner OFF switch is easier for my wife when she shuts down the system and primarily a matter of convenience for me, but at 81, convenience matters.