The case for "leaving it on":
Claim 1: the temperature of the components stabilize, providing a consistent sound.
Claim 2: the sound is better, because the temperature is stabilized at the design temperature, which the unit presuma bly ran at while being voiced by the designer.
Claim 3: reliability is better, due to absence of thermal cycling and resultant mechanical stresses on the components and circuit interconnections.
Claim 4: reliability is better, due to absence of large inrush currents at power-on.
There's also a good case to be made for leaving power amps turned off (but that's not your question). Suffice it to say I've considered both sides of the issue and leave my space heater (Aragon 8008 BB) turned off when not in use. |
Glen, Living in california, we turn it all off when not using. "Kill A Watt" is our moto out here!
We have a CA300. When it was in the 2 channel setup, we would just let it warm up for a while before listening. Now that it's in the HT, we just turn it on right when we sit down to watch a movie. (hey, Steve!) |
Hi Glen; 1439 makes good points, but another possibility, and the one I use, is to turn the amp on in the morning to warm up, and off after listening at night. I have a McCormack DNA-2DX Rev. A (also 300 wpc, like your Classe'). It runs fairly hot while playing, but drops into standby mode after no signal for 10 minutes. Still, I prefer to be 50% environmentally friendly, and so turn it off at night. Cheers. Craig |
Glen
As Angela does, for HT turn on and sit down.
For Stereo same as Garfish or if possible turn it on at noon for listening at night, then off. 5-6 hours warm up is OK for normal listening. When I´m going for some tweaking or critical listening with my friends I warm up longer. |
I used to turn on my gear in the a.m. and turn it off at night, but lately I've been leaving my amp and pre-amp on and only shutting off the cd player. Things seem to be fine when I turn the CD player on and off, but my amp and pre-amp only seem to sound really great after being being left on for 2 1/2 days. This has been a consistant thing, after shut down it takes about 55-60 hours of use until everything falls beautifully into place again. Now I'm wary of ever shutting down, as I just don't feel like losing the"magic" each time. Next time I go away for a weekend, I'll shut down, and pay close attention to see exactly how long it takes to sound right again. |
I'm with Angela.--However as many people will be reading this,and applying the answers to their situation--- I have a Moscode 600.A while back I had to have my main amp worked on,and had to use the 600 as the *only* amp. It sounded absolutely horrible /compared to #1 amp.After 24 hrs of having been on,it sounded tolerable--as in quite an improvment. (amps differ) We use the listening room as a make shift sauna in the summertime. DWP loves us.The Cj 5 monos make a great slow cooker. |
Thanks guys and girls for your take. When I first got the amp home I left it on for two weeks straight. I must admit it sounded very warm and friendly but it would almost burn you if you touched it. I am currently turning the amp off but may consider leaving it on during the winter months to heat the bedroom. I must admit this amp goes through some changes everytime I turn it on (Funny mechanical clicks and pops for the first 10 minutes same for shut down) As a rule I think Classe wants you to leave the stuff on. All of my other Classe manuals say 300 hours warm up time on Dacs,pre-amps and intergrated amps though I have not seen the manual on this amp yet.
I did notice the power bill was a little higher this month and yes I am a CA resident DANG IT!!!
Glen |
I prefer to turn my amp off when not in use. I have a Classe Omicron, and it runs hotter then I'd like (no AC), but seems to reach near optimum sound within two or three hours of playing music through it. If I know I'll be listening on back to back evenings, such as a week end, I may leave it on for 2 or 3 days, but not 7x24. 1439 states the classic reasons for leaving an amp on, or other components for that matter. However, if your amp runs so hot that its uncomfortable to touch, I can't believe that running it 7x24 with that much heat is a good thing either. |
Some very interesting viewpoints. I never turn my equipment off. I would be willing to bet that 95 percent of equipment problems occur within 5 minutes of turn on. I know that is true for me.
One of the reasons why I am able to leave my equipment on all the time is that it is all solid state. I purchased a tube amp and preamp not too long ago and I sold them, on Audiogon of course, because I did not like not being able to listen to music on demand.
I do understand the environmental viewpoints that have been posted in regard to this topic. Most of the equipment that I own run in a standby mode when not in use. |
Glen, do you mean 300 hours of break in time, or warm up time? |
As another CA resident, I must also take brown out into consideration when the voltage dropped below 90V. I used to leave my pre-amps and Marantz SA-1 on all the time until I blew the fuses 3 times in a row since the summer started. For those who owns the SA-1, a blown fuse means at least 2 weeks of down time since the fuse is hidden inside the power supply and is not a user-servicable part. To me, the sonic improvement simply isn't worth it (at least when we are still in the crisis situation). |
Seems to me that leaving any equipment on leaves it subject to things like line surges and nearby lightning strikes. Am I wrong? |
Unless you have surge protector. But still every time the hair dryer is turned on upstairsm the loud humming noise from turned on amp scares the hell out of me. I turned my stuff on about 1 hr before listening session. |
DWPC,
I think that as long as it is plugged directly into the wall and not through a power conditioner, we all run that risk - on or off. It's those dang wires! |
Spectral recommends explicitly that their DMA-360 amps not be left on unattended for long periods, because of potential speaker damage during brown-outs or power outs. Check with Classe on their recommendations for their amps.
Dwpc, high quality surge protection should help, but there are no guarantees with lightening strikes. |
Glen, I think the best solution is to have an amp that has a standby mode. My Krell FBP300 only needs 2-3 songs before it starts to sound its best because the main circuits that affect sound remain powered in standby. The other less important areas are powered off. I think it uses about 40 Watts in standby, certainly enough to add a few dollars to your monthly electric bill but only 25% of the power it would use powered up.
By the way, leave it off for a while. With the money you save on electricity you can upgrade to the MIT digital interconnect that you want!!
Gregg |
Gregg c, As you well know I am winning at that auction:~)
Bmpnyc, Your not the first to ask me that. I don't have any Classe amp manuals handy but I could swear they say 300hrs warm up time. I sure wish they had a stand-by mode on these amps. I would love to keep it warm and not have to turn it on and off all the time. The amp gives me this vibe like it's pissed every time I turn it back on. Can't figure out the pops and klinks. Is it asking me for classical music or something? Does anyone else experience strange noises on intial start up? (first 20 minutes) |
I am also a california resident (san diego area)
I turn my stuff off at night and turn it on when I get from work.
I would just feel too bad about using all that power just for an iota of increased listening pleasue.
Really, this expensive stuff we buy does not sound doggy when we just turn it on and although it may be a little better later when it has been on awhile.
I will introduce another point here though....
It is surprising to me and somewhat dissappointing that all companies don't make standby modes on all their stuff. It is irresponsible in any year let alone this one. I remember th arab oil emabargo in 1973 and all the rush to conserve...so easily forgotten as we went out and bought the largest, and heaviest SUV we could find.
There is no excuse for it and please don't tell me that it would "hurt the sound quality " too much. It is simply not a priority for companies in this country to build conservation concious equipment. As always, we who leave our equipment on 24/7 are to blame as well.
There.....I hope I haven't offended anyone. |
The energy vs. sound quality is a real issue. I leave my whole system on 24/7, before I get jumped on I should say my Aloia amps use 35 watts each, my Aloia pre-amp 25 watts and my Sony SCD-1 30 watts, thus a total of 125 watts. I feel ok with that level of waste in that I choose not to drive an SUV but an old Mazda 626. Everyone will make their own chooses, but most people I know live in glass houses so I hope not to hear from them. For those who want 600 watt pure class A or big tube amps, then that is an issue too, the power consumption for one disk is equal to my week of 24/7. I think the manufacturers could start looking at new designs that provide quality and are environmentally friendly. KRELL, BAT, C.J., Classe ... are you listening? |
I have a pair of Bryston 4B ST amps. Should I leave them on 7/24 or not?
Best regards-Henry |
I leave my Classe CA200 on all the time. I do feel a little guilty about the waste of electricity. Does anyone know how to figure out how much electricity my amp uses in idle? |
Jsbail,
You need to get an amp meter hooked up to the hot wire on that particular circuit. I am an electrician and am thinking about running that test myself. I will report the results and post the formula for calculating power consumption if I can get around to it this weekend. Does your Classe manual say 300 hrs warm up time? |
Thanks Glen, My Classe manual makes no mention of warm up or break-in time. I will look for your test results. Jon |
