Power on or power off? Yes an olde topic. AVA experiences?

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jedgar

Yes I know there are probably more than two sides to this issue.  I care only about the equipment longevity factor as I don't have the ears or the imagination to hear a difference between warmed up or just turned on equipment.

I have  Preamp: Van Alstine Transcendence Ten (tubes) and Power Amp: Van Alstine Synergy 240 (SS).  Plus CD player, TT, Tuner, Bluetooth receiver.

Some think that turning equipment on and off stresses and shortens life of equipment.  I can conceive of that... Some think that leaving tube equipment on shortens life of tubes.  That makes total sense.

FVA advice is to turn preamp on, then amp on and turn amp off, then preamp off.  With that sequence, leaving amp on while turning of pre-amp is not possible.

My inclination is to follow Frank's protocol but wonder if others have analytical or responses based on experience? 

I suppose a final question is whether leaving CD player on might extend longevity?

Thanks

JW

Bucketoftruth2000

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Re: Power on or power off? Yes an olde topic. AVA experiences?
« Reply #1 on: Yesterday at 06:43 pm »
I'm eager to here what others have to say here as I'm no expert. I've recently started leaving my CD/DAC and Phono Preamp on 24/7. It does sound better, but hopefully I'm not lessening the life span. My Integrated amp is Class A for the first 7 watts before it goes to class A/B. Because of that it stays warm so I figure that was bad to leave it on as the warmth of the circuit would take it's toll on the components over time.

Here's what motivated me to leave some of my stuff on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDBa3asBm2I


toocool4

Re: Power on or power off? Yes an olde topic. AVA experiences?
« Reply #2 on: Yesterday at 07:48 pm »
I don’t have valve kit, I run all solid state. Everything is always left on, the only units I turn off are the turntable and tape deck as the motors will burn out. My kit has been on for years without issues, it’s always ready to go.
My friend has a Nagra CDC and he never turns it or the rest of his kit off, he just turns off the display on the Nagra CDC.

Bucketoftruth2000

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Re: Power on or power off? Yes an olde topic. AVA experiences?
« Reply #3 on: Yesterday at 07:54 pm »
I don’t have valve kit, I run all solid state. Everything is always left on, the only units I turn off are the turntable and tape deck as the motors will burn out. My kit has been on for years without issues, it’s always ready to go.
My friend has a Nagra CDC and he never turns it or the rest of his kit off, he just turns off the display on the Nagra CDC.

I notice your power amps (Spectral DMA-100) are Class A. Do they get hot being left on all the time?

toocool4

Re: Power on or power off? Yes an olde topic. AVA experiences?
« Reply #4 on: Yesterday at 07:59 pm »
They are Class AB, no heat issues. Like I said they have been on for years, zero issues.

P.S. Not sure I would want to leave pure Class A on all the time.

Bucketoftruth2000

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Re: Power on or power off? Yes an olde topic. AVA experiences?
« Reply #5 on: Yesterday at 08:22 pm »
They are Class AB, no heat issues. Like I said they have been on for years, zero issues.

P.S. Not sure I would want to leave pure Class A on all the time.

Got it. Does your amp feel warm at all? My Luxman says it's class A/B but it stays warm (never hot, but definitely very warm) when on. I wonder if I'm being over protective and should just leave it on.

toocool4

Re: Power on or power off? Yes an olde topic. AVA experiences?
« Reply #6 on: Yesterday at 08:30 pm »
Yes, it is warm.

As long as you have good ventilation and nothing stacked on top of it, I don't see the issue in leaving it on. I don't do stacking, I think everything should have its own space on / in the rack. I also have everything sitting on top of Symposium Roller Blocks for isolation.

Give it a try and if you are not happy or don't notice any difference, change it back to having it off when not in use.

YungestMarco

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Re: Power on or power off? Yes an olde topic. AVA experiences?
« Reply #7 on: Yesterday at 08:32 pm »
Usually turn on my equipment on few minutes before I’m about to start listening and turn it off at the end of the night. If I know I’m about to be away for a few hours, will turn it off then back on when I’m back home.

When running all solid-state equipment, don’t mind leaving it on all day but when using tubes, (especially rarer nos ones) prefer to minimize the time they are on

DecibleDude

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Re: Power on or power off? Yes an olde topic. AVA experiences?
« Reply #8 on: Yesterday at 10:50 pm »
I'm eager to here what others have to say here as I'm no expert. I've recently started leaving my CD/DAC and Phono Preamp on 24/7. It does sound better, but hopefully I'm not lessening the life span. My Integrated amp is Class A for the first 7 watts before it goes to class A/B. Because of that it stays warm so I figure that was bad to leave it on as the warmth of the circuit would take it's toll on the components over time.

Here's what motivated me to leave some of my stuff on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDBa3asBm2I

  This is sort of interesting, because unless I'm mistaken FVA recommended turning off gear, but I think he was referring to solid state gear. I don't know if the same would hold true for tubes. If it were me I'd turn them off unless I was going to be listening a little later that day. On the other hand, Paul McGowan of ps audio says to leave gear on, but again, I'm not sure if he was talking about tubes or not. Either way you have two different opinions from two different experts. 

toocool4

Re: Power on or power off? Yes an olde topic. AVA experiences?
« Reply #9 on: Yesterday at 11:13 pm »
DecibleDude, Paul is talking about solid state and not valve amps. No one would leave valve amps on all the time, unless they have plenty of money to be changing the valves every 1000 hours or so, or how many hours they last.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxF9dcAfpQ4

usaman

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Re: Power on or power off? Yes an olde topic. AVA experiences?
« Reply #10 on: Yesterday at 11:20 pm »
PSaudio, Paul Mcgowan, recommends SS always on and tubes on standby.  If no standby than off and warmed up rior to playing.  He goes on to state that all their equipment is designed to stay on even when shutdown by the power switch.

SteveFord

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