Leave amps on or off?

.......as to life span of the amp, a case can be made for either leaving amps on, eg fewer hot/cold cycles, or turning them off when not in use, eg less total "on" time on individual components in the amp. It seems to me that standby is a good compromise, and many amps now have that feature (but I turn my 300 wpc amp off at night, and on 3-4 hours before use) . Craig.

I was writing while Rgd was posting. I think we are essentially in agreement. Craig

For my solid state amp I switch it on al least 1 hour before listening, my experience with 3-4 hours before is better sonic quality as Garfish's is . Also consider that you might have spikes and brown outs that have to be added to the equation and don't take out storms and lightning possibilities. Shure you should have some protection but remember that some filters, etc do compromise dynamics as in many areas in this hobby you take your considerations and go with the best compromises that you choose.

I have recently started leaving my SS ARC 100.2 amp on all the time, and I can tell you that the sound is MUCH BETTER! I have a tube preamp which I leave in standby mode when no being used. Of course once the preamp warms up the sound is even better, but by leaving the amp on all the time I am amazed at the improvement.

I have always left my solid-state amps (Adcom, Bryston, and others) turned on at all times (except during electrical storms, or when away on vacation). Over a 13 year period, I have only one problem that required repair (a power transistor burned out). I think solid-state amps sound better when fully warm, and the warm up/cool down cycle is harder on the amp than being left on all the time.