[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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Off.
The people making the recommendations aren't paying my utility bill.

[jedgar]

Gonna keep doing what I do, which is follow Frank's advice.  I am not reading anything that shows on/off actually limits life span of SS equipment.  FWIW Frank did replace an on\off switch on my amp when it began to physically feel a bit wonky when operated, [no charge, post warranty]).  I suppose there is no-one out there who has 2 of same set-up with leave-on, leave-off as an AB test using AVA or other equipment.  Stay safe everyone.

[danielgk]

A capacitor's life is spec'ed out in hours.  The large aluminum electrolytics that are in all power supplies seem to be the worst.  5000 hours is not uncommon, 10000 hours seems to be a good enough number that the manufactures brag about it.  5000 hours is about 7 months at 24 hours/day and 10,000 hours is just over a year.

I'll be the first to admit that capacitors don't seem to fail that fast in real life situations, but the fact that they have a finite lifespan that is fairly short convinces me that the amp should be off unless its going to be used within the hour.


Dan

[toocool4]

The unit that has been on the longest in my system is my tuner the Ion FMT 1, I have owned it from new since about 1991. It’s never turned off, not even the display has failed.




The longest continuous burning light bulb, been on since 1901.See link below

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centennial_Light

[Nick B]

I had the Control amp which was a great amp for the money. I used to turn it on/off for every listening session. One time I forgot and the amp sounded better. So I asked Frank and he didn't want the amp left on. But.... I wanted the best sound and I then left it on 24/7. I'd rather have consistently good sound and have to recap.

[gene9p]

My Rotel 1080 tuner is always on also...

[usaman]

Just received my new Fet Valve CFR preamp and the manual recommends it being powered down when not in use.

[Tone Depth]

Frank's power sequencing was multi-faceted. One objective was to extend the life of circuit board components as long as possible, especially tubes and capacitors, but also transistors. Another objective was to prevent electrical surges/spikes from damaging signal-downstream components. His turn-on sequence started at the sources and worked its way to the power amplifier. Turn-off sequence started at the power amp and works its way to the sources. I remember reading that he believed his circuits were sufficiently stable that no more than 2-3 minutes of warm up were necessary.

At least one person, whom I won't name, blew out something in his expensive speakers by not following the recommended sequence while demoing an AVA amp. I follow his power-up and power-down sequences, and have yet to have a problem.

Many years ago I had his first generation Transcendence SS preamp, built in the Dynaco PAT-5 chassis, one of many rebuilds. His instructions were to always leave it on. Several years later, those instructions ceased to appear in the Owner's Manuals. Wonder why.