OK, after some reading I'll leave my system on, but...

[bluegrassphile]

...won't that significantly accelerate it's lifespan? When I was a young audiophile in the '60s, '70s, and '80s, we rarely left our systems powered up and we didn't give warm up a second thought. But I'm now convinced it's best to leave things powered up and things do sound better pre-warmed. However, I do expect some shortening of my system's lifespan due to leaving it powered up, 24/7. So, how long (how many years) have you been leaving your equipment powered up? Do you see any significant effect on the longevity of your equipment over time?

[Mr Peabody]

I turn my amp and preamp into "standby". I don't leave it powered up all the time. I may leave it on during a day I may return to it later in the same day.

Some claim turning gear on/off is worse for life than leaving it on.

[Randy Myers]

I have gone back and forth on this as well. I know when I have left everything on the DAC and the Amp are almost operating level warm when I touch them the following day. That heat does concern me.

[Mikado463]

When I was a young audiophile in the '60s, '70s, and '80s, we rarely left our systems powered up and we didn't give warm up a second thought.

ahhhhh, simpler times when we just enjoyed our music ......

But I'm now convinced it's best to leave things powered up and things do sound better pre-warmed.

what's your time line with respect to 'pre-warm' ?

However, I do expect some shortening of my system's lifespan due to leaving it powered up, 24/7.

especially if there are storms in the area, I'm sure you power down and unplug for that

I have never left my equipment powered up (ARC tube pre, PASS amps) and feel everything is 'up to temp' within one albums time.

[joeinid]

Off when I leave home. On when I get home at night. If on, music is playing, never on without music. If my amps run hot, I use one of those component fans on top or bottom depending on where the transistors are or if tubes, never enclosed but in the wide open with nothing around them.

[jadedavid]

I have a friend that has had his receiver powered up since the late 80's.
Only time it's off is when the power goes out.
Never had to do any servicing to it.
Different strokes for different folks.
YMMV

[Mikado463]

I have a friend that has had his receiver powered up since the late 80's.
Only time it's off is when the power goes out.
Never had to do any servicing to it.
Different strokes for different folks.
YMMV

your friend is incredibly lucky, yet not very bright ..........

[nicoff]

your friend is incredibly lucky, yet not very bright ..........

He never had any service issues so maybe he is lucky and bright! I personally would not do that though.

[Mikado463]

He never had any service issues so maybe he is lucky and bright! I personally would not do that though.

my not so bright comment was related to keeping your gear powered up through outages, no way is that very 'bright'. I stand by my original comment ............

[Al M.]

CD transport and DAC always on (except at power outages and during thunderstorms), pre and power amp not (they are tube). The amplification is up to speed after 10 minutes (in fact sounds great after 2 min, following the programmed 'soft' start-up procedure). Maybe there's an improvement after that, but that would be splitting hairs.

The DAC is to recommended by the manufacturer to be always on. When confronted with concerns that the DAC is warm upon operation, their answer is basically, "yep, we know that, nothing of concern". Sounds about right to me.

[Devg]

For digital, like DACs, CD Players, its always better to leave it on as it can take many hrs for the clocks (depending on the type used) to stabilize and attain thermal equilibrium. My music server and DACs are always on, obviously along with the power conditioner. Integrated Amp is on standby when not playing but it takes ~30mins to fully come to life after powered on from standby. Over the weekends when I know in advance that I will be at home and listening for most part, the amp is always on.

One of other hand, one of my friend turns everything off, including the power conditioner and unplugs it from the wall when leaving home - that's just on the extreme side of paranoia

[Mechnutt]

I have a Luxman DAC and they do not recommend leaving it on all the time.

[BlueFox]

I have a Luxman DAC and they do not recommend leaving it on all the time.

How do they state that in the manual?

[Mr Peabody]

I have had gear that was designed to remain on. My Pass XP10 had no power button and the manual said to leave it on. Same with my AcousTech phono stage, solid steel or aluminum with no buttons at all, just a set of input/outputs in back.

I might as well leave my current preamp on as hot as it stays in standby.

[Kingrex]

Dac and server as well as all my non audio home computers, always on. Tube gear off.
If you really believe it should all be turned off, have you put a switch on your Modem and router. What about your TV, coffee pot, Micro oven, refrigerator etc that run all day in your house, Are you worried they are getting old and will light on fire one day. What about the plug in alarm clock next to your bed, or the hardwired Smoke detector in your bedroom. We have way more devices than you realize running 24//7 in your house.

Point of interest, most incidents that I find on the job that are a darn close to fire incident are compact fluorescent light bulbs in an enclosed ceiling fixture. The driver cooks the wiring in the light either by heat or harmonics. Second is the neutral drops to a house and 3 wire circuit's go to 240 volt. Twice I have seen door bell transformers burn up to crispy chunks of molten goo. Last is people using the speed lock on the back of receptacles and switches. They dont always bite well and a small 2500* arch starts in there. I have seen at least 5 switches and plugs with a good half of the device gone. On 2 occasion the plastic box housing the device was also maybe 20% melted away. It is my belief those speed up the install devices are the reason I have to install $55 AFCI CB on every 120 volt circuit in your house. I buy $900 to $1200 in CB alone on every panel job now.

[Al M.]

Dac and server as well as all my non audio home computers, always on. Tube gear off.
If you really believe it should all be turned off, have you put a switch on your Modem and router. What about your TV, coffee pot, Micro oven, refrigerator etc that run all day in your house, Are you worried they are getting old and will light on fire one day. What about the plug in alarm clock next to your bed, or the hardwired Smoke detector in your bedroom. We have way more devices than you realize running 24//7 in your house.

Yup, paranoia will destroya.

Point of interest, most incidents that I find on the job that are a darn close to fire incident are compact fluorescent light bulbs in an enclosed ceiling fixture. The driver cooks the wiring in the light either by heat or harmonics. Second is the neutral drops to a house and 3 wire circuit's go to 240 volt. Twice I have seen door bell transformers burn up to crispy chunks of molten goo. Last is people using the speed lock on the back of receptacles and switches. They dont always bite well and a small 2500* arch starts in there. I have seen at least 5 switches and plugs with a good half of the device gone. On 2 occasion the plastic box housing the device was also maybe 20% melted away. It is my belief those speed up the install devices are the reason I have to install $55 AFCI CB on every 120 volt circuit in your house. I buy $900 to $1200 in CB alone on every panel job now.

May I ask what is a speed lock? Thanks.

[Kingrex]

Yup, paranoia will destroya.



May I ask what is a speed lock? Thanks.

Speed lock is stripping a wire about 1/2" back of the insulation an pushing it into a small hole that captures the wire. Much like a receptacle yet the contact area is smaller and designed to not let the wire pull back out. Much like a WAGO but built into the switch and receptacle.

On 2 occasions I have used these connectors on can lights. They come in every can. Twice I have had to pull the can apart to access the wiring housing to cut away one of these loose connectors and use a wire nut. I now wire nut all my lights and I always use the screw on all receptacles and light switches. Takes me more time but I don't have call backs and I don't start fires.

The AFCI CB will stop archs so fires wont start. They could probably be used on any audio equipment and not be a sonic detriment. The latching mechanism and contacts are the same as a regular CB. The difference is there is an intelligent device that listens for 60 cycle buzz of an arch and opens the CB if it hears one. If your worried about leaving on your gear because of fire, use a AFCI CB.

https://www.wago.com/us/c/wire-splicing-connectors

[MPW]

I had believed that all tube gear should be shut off after use. I own a Cary SLP-05 preamp that has tube gain and rectification. I was having it upgraded at the factory and they told me that I should leave it on all the time unless I wasn't going to be using it for a few days. They indicated that since there is no bias, it would actually help tube life and be less stressful overall to the piece to be left on.

[Kingrex]

I had believed that all tube gear should be shut off after use. I own a Cary SLP-05 preamp that has tube gain and rectification. I was having it upgraded at the factory and they told me that I should leave it on all the time unless I wasn't going to be using it for a few days. They indicated that since there is no bias, it would actually help tube life and be less stressful overall to the piece to be left on.

I have heard tube equipment that is not designed with appropriate soft start capability hits the tubes pretty hard upon cold startup and over time damages the tubes. I could see life lasting longer always on. The same happens with filament light bulbs. They are shaken so hard upon startup they break. Ever notice how the light always blew when you turned it on. Not while sitting there reading a book. If you have under counter xenon lights and the bulbs blow all the time. Get Lutron Maestro dimmers. They have a soft start and soft off function. My xenon bulbs have lasted for close to 6 years now. In the past I was changing bulbs every month.

Where is Atmasphere. He would know.

[Ryan Berry]

Having produced products for 27 years, I can say that we haven't seen any product fail from being left on too long. If there's a failure, it's almost always tied to an event like a massive surge, etc. that wouldn't have been prevented even if the unit was in standby. Conversely, we have seen a number of units that were forgotten about and left unpowered for enough years that the capacitors dried up and needed to be replaced. A well-designed solid state product shouldn't outright fail by being left on over time, in our opinion. The components selected should be rated for a lot harsher conditions than they experience in a home electronics piece, with the only real susceptible components being the electrolytics -- but that's more related to the lifespan of the component, so leaving the unit off or unplugged when not in use isn't going to gain anything there.