2. amps-preamps
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Tube Preamp.. On or Off?

I have a Sonic Frontier Line 2 PreAmp. Considering that I live in California and our electricity rates are "rapingly" high, my wife have asked me repeatly to turn off my electronic gears. The big questions is....I was wondering should I leave my preamp on all the time, turn it to stand by mode, or turn it off completely? Will the life of my tubes be shorter if I leave the preamp on all the time? What do you other tube owners do? Is there a lost of sound quality if your tube gears are not warmed up? What about tube amps? Should one leave a tube one all the time? What's a good breaking point to turn your tube gears if you're not listen to it? 3-5 hour break? Thanks in advance for your help.
3chihuahuas
elizabeth
6,726 posts
 
My former preamp, a Counterpoint S2000 was left on all the time. I found that it took at least a full day for it to sound it's best if it was turned to "standby" mode. I left it on for 5 years straight(then a power supply part failed for the second time and I later traded it for a LD player (long story) I think the preamp being left on does NOT wear out the tubes like on a tube amp (which I would NOT leave on all the time)
sgmlaw
76 posts
 
I've struggled with the same issue on a variety of tube gear. I would not leave any tube gear on 24/7, even though it probably sounds better to do so in many cases. While small signal valves don't wear as fast as power tubes, they do eventually consume themselves if left on. Really good matched NOS small signal tubes are just too expensive anymore to permit this practice, IMHO. The Line series at least has standby mode. Standby mode keeps the cathode heated only, which reduces wear over full emission operation. Standby will use up a tube, albeit at a reduced rate. The advantage of standby is elimination of the power up surge which stresses tubes. Most tubes fail during a power up. My approach has been where I'm not going to listen for two days or longer, I power down completely. Otherwise, the wear of two days' standby is likely less detrimental than the stress of power up. For equipment without standby mode (and for all power amps), I power it down if I won't be listening any more that day. It all boils down to which factor you choose to compromise - ultimate sound or tube life
south43
386 posts
 
My Anthem pre2L does not have a standby mode, but upon turn on it does go into a standby phase for 30sec and then I pwr up my Anthem 1. I myself do not leave my pre on all the time I just wait about a hour before I settle down to listen. The pwr amp stays off.
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