Leaving Components On Continuously

B

bluegrassphile

Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2019
Messages
995
Location
Southeast Iowa
I've been turning my audio components off when not in use. I think I read where many audiophiles leave all components on almost 100% of the time. I'm considering leaving my Pass Labs int 250 amp and MSB Discrete DAC (with dual power supplies) on indefinitely. I know audio components sound their best when fully warmed up. But I want to make sure I'm not shortening the life span of my components. What is your advice on this?
 
Schiit recommends leaving their Yggdrasil DAC powered on all the time, so I do that.

My Coda pre has no power button, so it stays on too.

My Cherry monos and Bryston BDP-2 go into a sleep mode, but remain essentially powered on.
 
By “on” do you mean in stand-by or with the blue meter on?

I put mine in stand-by - that is I push the button on the front of both my Pass 260.8s to shut them down. However, I do not turn them off on the back of the amps. They take app. an hour to warm up.

But there’s nothing wrong with letting Pass stay all the way in IMO. We have a lot of lightning strikes here in FL, so I feel more comfortable when with them in stand-by when I’m not using them.
 
I shut the amp off using the push button switch on the front of the amp. There are two power supplies for the MSB Discrete DAC and I shut them both down (also push button switches) after every use. My Roon Nucleus stays on full time.

We don't have to worry much about lightning in the winter. But we certainly do in the spring, summer, and fall.
 
I keep my Lumin X1, and Pass XP-22 on 24/7. The amps I turn off via the front power switch, but leave the rear power switch on. I turn the amps on when I go to bed if I plan on listening the next evening.
 
Class A or high bias AB, I’ll turn on an hour or two before listening. Sources typically stay on 24X7.
 
Last edited:
I leave everything but my tube Phonostage and tube tape stage on 24/7. If I get the Boulder 2100 series phono, it will stay on all the time too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
I also turn my Pass X250 off with power button. My Luxman DAC is also turned off as recommended in the manual.
 
Anything that gets hot should be switched off (or to standby), if for no other reason than the environmental one. Inexcusable to leave tube, Class A, etc on 24/7.

I don't think that putting equipment into standby will protect them from lightening. I've had a TV and other kit blown by lightening (twice) when "off". They need to be unpluugged from the wall during nearby storms.
 
Calvin said:
By “on” do you mean in stand-by or with the blue meter on?

I put mine in stand-by - that is I push the button on the front of both my Pass 260.8s to shut them down. However, I do not turn them off on the back of the amps. They take app. an hour to warm up.

But there’s nothing wrong with letting Pass stay all the way in IMO. We have a lot of lightning strikes here in FL, so I feel more comfortable when with them in stand-by when I’m not using them.
Click to expand...

Calvin, I too have the x260.8's, given there high initial Class A bias I see no valid reason for leaving them on. If I am getting into a serious listening session a hour warmup is all that's needed. Sorry but as a long time Nelson Pass disciple I never bought into multiple of hours needed to reach audio nirvana...........
 
bluegrassphile said:
I've been turning my audio components off when not in use. I think I read where many audiophiles leave all components on almost 100% of the time. I'm considering leaving my Pass Labs int 250 amp and MSB Discrete DAC (with dual power supplies) on indefinitely. I know audio components sound their best when fully warmed up. But I want to make sure I'm not shortening the life span of my components. What is your advice on this?
Click to expand...

The low voltage stuff you can leave on but i would not recommend the same for the amplifiers
 
I leave all of mine on with the exception of the vacuum space heaters.

I don't know if it is true or not but I have read a number of manufacturers suggest it is harder on electronics to have power surge through them at turn on than staying on with the circuits powered.
 
I posted on the Naim forum regarding my components of that brand and the consensus was to leave on the power amp, preamp and external power supply 24/7. Naim doesn’t run warm though like a Pass Class A amp would.
 
Like Here Here I had a processor blown from lightning when it was off, so unplugging is only safe way, unless you trust your power protection.

My Pass pre stayed on all the time, no power switch. I left my Pass power amp on as well, it was almost as bad as my tube gear about needing a warm up period and I preferred to forgo that period.

Now, I put my Levinson pre int standby and will sometimes leave the power amp on. unless I know for sure I won't get listening time the next day. The power amp sounds better after a short time but not like the Pass did.

My Coda CSX stays on all the time.

With tubes I just had to dealwith the warm up, I wasn't burning any life, LOL
 
Disclaimer: I own no tube gear.

I generally leave all electronics on 24/7. If I'm going to be away for less than 48 hours, I will put things in stand-by mode. If it is longer than 48 hours or it looks like there will be lightning issues (or power issues), I will turn off AND unplug everything from the wall.

I've been monitoring my electrical usage since purchasing my Pass Labs X250.8 last June and interestingly, I've been using about the same wattage-hours on a per month basis as I was using from the same month a year prior. I figured since the new amp runs much warmer than my old Odyssey Audio monoblocks, my bill would have gone up. Not the case.
 
Last edited:
I am wondering what you guys do with the tube gear, specially with the tube preamp and/or DACs ? While some designers advocate to switch it off when not in use, there are others who claims that switching it on/off everyday has greater determental effect on the tubes and shorten the life than leaving it on 24x7. Thoughts ?

I tend to leave on 24x7 all solid state components (servers, dacs, class D amps), except high wattage amps, like Pass/FW. All tube gears, I turn it on 30mins before listening and turn it off (or standby in case it has it) when done.
 
If I will not be listening for 3 hours or more I turn everything off. My preamp and cd player are both tube and they have soft start circuits so powering them on and off is not a problem. I also don't worry about turning my F6 on and off as it appears to be pretty robust. The OTL amps (which have finally broken in and have come around) have 16 EL509 output tubes and they get hot as heck so I don't leave them on all night or anything.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top