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
argent
245 posts
 
I have a CJ PV12L. I used to leave it on all the time. It needed to be on at least two days to sound its best. But the tubes kept going out every few months, and it began to get expensive. Now I just leave it off until I want to listen. I know I'm not getting the very "best" out of it, but my tubes have now lasted nearly a year with no signs of sluffing off. If you want the best from your system, yes, leave it on. But you will shorten the lifespan of the equipment and the tubes. Happy listening.
czbbcl's avatar
czbbcl
1,699 posts
 
I have a CJ Premiere 17ls. I leave it in stand-by mode or I turn it off if I am not going to be listening for awhile. Leaving it on will shorten the life of the tubes as you have found out.
jsbail
320 posts
 
Sonic Frontiers preamps are designed to be left in standby. It's a nice feature, why not use it?
6550c
393 posts
 
I know this in an old topic, but even the owner's manual says to turn it all the way off (power supply too) if you are not going to use it in the next 24 hours.
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