A question concerning remote power up of amps

Rod_S · « **on:** 18 Feb 2006, 07:11 pm »

I have been a Bryston owner for just over 2 years using a 4B SST to power my front left/right speakers and I had been using an Anthem MCA-50 for the center, sides and surronds but have recently replaced the Anthem with a 6B SST and another 4B SST.
My original 4B was controlled by a trigger from my Lexicon MC12B and turned on when the MC-12 turned on and off when the processor was off. This was a basic power trigger and could not be programmed and was linked to the power state of the processor. The Anthem did not use a trigger because it had an auto on function that turned the amp on when it detected a signal and turned it off after about 20 minutes without receiving any signal. Since the Brystons do not have this auto sense feature I have hooked up the 2 additional triggers from my MC-12 to the new amps. I have programmed the MC-12 to trigger the new amps when any surround mode is applied.
So my question concerns frequent turning on/off of the amps in short periods of time and whether or not it is good for the amps. The most extreme example would be if I was watching a tv show in Dolby 5.1 and when the tv ads come on they are not all in 5.1 so the amps are turning on/off sometimes for every second ad until the show comes back on. Since this can take place every 20-40 seconds over a period of 2-3 minutes does this pose any risk to the amps?

Thanks,

Rod

jethro · « **Reply #1 on:** 19 Feb 2006, 12:28 am »

I'm no expert. but I wouldn't let my amps cycle like this. I don't know for sure whether the cycling would hurt the amps, but it would probably interfere with the amps maintaining a stable state/temperature. If you have a siwtched 120 volt outlet on your pre-pro you could use a 12-volt wall wart to switch on your surround amps.

_andy_ · « **Reply #2 on:** 19 Feb 2006, 04:54 am »

....i personally don't like that situation either. I would have them trigger on when pre powers
up only and not when a signal is sensed. Like you say, if a program cycles between 5.1 and 2.0 n number of times an hour, that's an awful lot of power-up downs. It's my understanding
the Bryston's like being on in advance, and reaching normal operating temp and then powered down when finished. in your situation the on off cycles of the product would go way
up over normal use.........including that inrush surge only milliseconds before multichannel sounds start. When my 9B powers up it's a 2 second whirr-thump before it's active.

Rod_S · « **Reply #3 on:** 19 Feb 2006, 03:19 pm »

Thanks for the responses.

Both are good suggestions. With the 2 triggers being used for those 2 amps I can't have them set like the first to map to the power state of the processor but I can set them so that I have control of when to send the trigger via the Lexicon remote, i.e. more of a manual method but it is good as it prevents me from actually having to go up to the amps and physically turn them on.

Thanks again,

Rod

jethro · « **Reply #4 on:** 19 Feb 2006, 07:09 pm »

Actually, I think you can daisy chain the 12 volt trigger from your 4B-SST to the 6B-SST, provided your pre-pro can supply enough current thru its trigger. I don't have SST amps but I think the new trigger connection uses a slide-in unit with screws. You should be able to add an additional wire to each screw and attach those wires to the slide-in unit on your 6B-SST.

You might want to post a question regarding your pre-pro trigger's current output to the home theatre circle just in case.

Rod_S · « **Reply #5 on:** 21 Feb 2006, 01:58 am »

Quote

Actually, I think you can daisy chain the 12 volt trigger from your 4B-SST to the 6B-SST, provided your pre-pro can supply enough current thru its trigger. I don't have SST amps but I think the new trigger connection uses a slide-in unit with screws. You should be able to add an additional wire to each screw and attach those wires to the slide-in unit on your 6B-SST.

You are right, the SST's have both a trigger In and Out so potentially if I wanted to have all three amps connected to the power-on trigger of my MC-12 I could take the out from my main 4B connect it to say the 6B and possibly take the out from the 6B to the second 4B. I wonder how much power the 6B and 4B would pull in when just sitting there idle, I can get the specs for standby from the manual but I don't think it has anything for an idle state, I'll take another look though. I would rather avoid having 2 amps on constantly when they are only being used a much less % of the time conpared to the main 4B.

Thanks,

Rod

4WR · « **Reply #6 on:** 21 Feb 2006, 02:26 pm »

Rod_S..........
I have a similar set-up except I use a 6B-SST for the front 3 channels a 4B-SST for side surround and a 4B-SST for the rears. I have the remote triggers all daisy chained and it works very well. I rarely listen to 2 channel and have 7 channel processing engaged when TV/video watching so all amps are being used. In stand-by the SST amps are cold to the touch so I can't see them using much power anyway. I know my old NRB could be used as a space heater when just sitting there.

Take Care
4WR

ec · « **Reply #7 on:** 21 Feb 2006, 03:18 pm »

I also have my 4B SST and 6B SST triggers daisy chained with about 60 - 75' of 22AWG wiring. Works like a champ.

Rod_S · « **Reply #8 on:** 23 Feb 2006, 01:18 am »

Thanks for the further input and examples.

In the past I have almost exclusively listened to tv in stereo and only when watching a movie on tv would I engage say PLII or Logic7 for a more enjoyable experience. Of course if what was on tv happened to be in Dolby Digital 5.1 I would of course have the entire system going. It was when watching DVD's, listening to music or gaming that I would always have the surround speakers going.

Now that I find the addition of the 2 new Bryston's so much more enjoyable than my Anthem I may just have everything on all the time. I'll experiment.

Thanks again for the input.

Rod

James Tanner · « **Reply #9 on:** 23 Feb 2006, 03:25 pm »

Hi Rod;

Sorry for the delay in answering. The turn-on and turn-off of Bryston amplifiers via the remote trigger function will not harm them even if switched every few seconds. This function is performed electronically, and there is no 'wear-out' problem with running it. You may connect your system as you describe with no concern of long-term problems. Thanks for your interest and support for Bryston audio components.

Sincerely,
Chris Russell
Bryston Ltd.

Rod_S · « **Reply #10 on:** 25 Feb 2006, 02:55 pm »

Thanks for the response James and it is comforting to now know for certain if I continue to keep the triggers programmed in that manner no harm will be done.

Thanks again,

Rod