Tube power amp - keep on continually?

preamps are good left on continuously for best performance but power amps isn't a good idea the consumption of electricity is pretty high and the effect on the life of the tubes just doesn't justify the performance gains. Besides 30 minutes it takes to reach full performance isn't really that big of a difference anyway.

This is just my guess, but if left on 24/7, I bet you'd chew through amplifier output tubes every six months. With normal 1-4 hour listening sessions then leaving the amps off when not in use I imagine you'd get 2 years out of a set of output tubes.

Tubes don;t like being turned on and off (like everything else), but letting then burn 168 hours a week with little use is is sort of silly. This applies to amp output tubes. line level tubes like those found in preamps and phono stages generally last longer and cost less to replace (uses less electricity and heat your house less), so you will generally see people suggest that you keep them on (if not 24/7, then at least during the periods when you listen the most, like weekends, holidays, etc)

As others have said, being on all the time ages the tubes prematurely, but on/off cycles are probably harder on them than just being left on.

I compromise - I turn my system (amp, pre and DAC - all tubed) off every night during the week, but I leave them on all weekend. I figure this works out best, since I often don't listen for a couple of days during the week. This regime minimizes the on/off cycles and the amps are always up to speed when I want them on the weekends. While the power tubes only take about half an hour to warm up most of the way, the amps really only sound their best once they'be been on for an hour and a half or so.

DO NOT LEAVE TUBE POWERAMP ON UNATTENDED!
TURN IT OFF WHEN YOU LEAVE LISTENING ROOM.
TURN IT ON AND LEAVE FOR 15...20MIN TO WORM UP BEFORE LISTENING.

Thanks for all the advice. I will turn it off when it is not in-use.

Alan