To turn off or not to turn off

A general rule of thumb about SS amps is that the hotter that they run in normal use, the greater the sound variance when going from off to normal operating temperature. In other words, don't expect the same sound out of a high bias amp when it is stone cold or warming up. It may take several hours of consecutive operaton to come up to operating temperature and fully stabilize.

Amps that run cool i.e. Sunfire, Bel Canto or other "digital" or "switching amps" will not be as noticeable when going from cold to hot. Since they stay relatively cool even when "throttling" them, they don't need as much "warm up" or "operating time" to stabilize. Then again, these amps are so efficient that you can leave them on and they pull less power than a normal light bulb. For the record, the Sunfire 2 ch amps idle at about 40 watts of consumption. The B & K will idle at QUITE a bit more power than that and runs WAY hotter, even at idle.

Like anything else, it all boils down to personal choice. As for me, my house looks like an audio showroom due to all of the lights and displays being lit up all the time. Sean
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What worries me about leaving my equipment on all the time is the possibility of surge damage, as sdcampbell has experienced. I am thinking to buy a PS Audio Ultimate Outlet primarily for surge protection purpose. Could it offer enough protection ? Please comment.

What about digital? I've just started leaving the cd player on all the time, except when I'm away. I do prefer leaving it on as I think I hear a difference from stone cold. More relaxed.....am I fooling myself here? Just my 2cents...cheers, Bluenose

Leave the solid state stuff on and no worries.

For the last two months I've owned the Blue Circle BC21 and BC22 preamp and amp combo. During this time I have always left both pieces continuously powered on. I can definitely notice a sonic benefit. However, I became concerned with safety, cost and the actual necessity of this. I contacted Blue Circle and this was their response:

"We don't recommend to keep the components turn "on" all the time. It will shorten the tube life and some other circutry will not like to be kept on all the time. Not to mention if you are not listening and not at home, if there is a lighting hit, the very first thing will get hit is the power amp. Since the surge usually goes to where the power is being drawn the most.

Usually, we have found turn the components about 15 mins before doing any listen is good enough. Eventhough, it will get better if it's been kept on for longer, the disadvantage is not enough to take over by the risk."

But I still leave my transport on. I hope this helps.