Leave it on or turn it off?

Spectral recommends explicitly that their DMA-360 amps not be left on unattended for long periods, because of potential speaker damage during brown-outs or power outs. Check with Classe on their recommendations for their amps.
Dwpc, high quality surge protection should help, but there are no guarantees with lightening strikes.

Glen, I think the best solution is to have an amp that has a standby mode. My Krell FBP300 only needs 2-3 songs before it starts to sound its best because the main circuits that affect sound remain powered in standby. The other less important areas are powered off. I think it uses about 40 Watts in standby, certainly enough to add a few dollars to your monthly electric bill but only 25% of the power it would use powered up.

By the way, leave it off for a while. With the money you save on electricity you can upgrade to the MIT digital interconnect that you want!!

Gregg

Gregg c, As you well know I am winning at that auction:~)

Bmpnyc, Your not the first to ask me that. I don't have any Classe amp manuals handy but I could swear they say 300hrs warm up time. I sure wish they had a stand-by mode on these amps. I would love to keep it warm and not have to turn it on and off all the time. The amp gives me this vibe like it's pissed every time I turn it back on. Can't figure out the pops and klinks. Is it asking me for classical music or something? Does anyone else experience strange noises on intial start up? (first 20 minutes)

I am also a california resident (san diego area)
I turn my stuff off at night and turn it on when I get from work.
I would just feel too bad about using all that power just for an iota of increased listening pleasue.
Really, this expensive stuff we buy does not sound doggy when we just turn it on and although it may be a little better later when it has been on awhile.
I will introduce another point here though....
It is surprising to me and somewhat dissappointing that all companies don't make standby modes on all their stuff. It is irresponsible in any year let alone this one. I remember th arab oil emabargo in 1973 and all the rush to conserve...so easily forgotten as we went out and bought the largest, and heaviest SUV we could find.
There is no excuse for it and please don't tell me that it would "hurt the sound quality " too much. It is simply not a priority for companies in this country to build conservation concious equipment. As always, we who leave our equipment on 24/7 are to blame as well.
There.....I hope I haven't offended anyone.

The energy vs. sound quality is a real issue. I leave my whole system on 24/7, before I get jumped on I should say my Aloia amps use 35 watts each, my Aloia pre-amp 25 watts and my Sony SCD-1 30 watts, thus a total of 125 watts. I feel ok with that level of waste in that I choose not to drive an SUV but an old Mazda 626. Everyone will make their own chooses, but most people I know live in glass houses so I hope not to hear from them. For those who want 600 watt pure class A or big tube amps, then that is an issue too, the power consumption for one disk is equal to my week of 24/7. I think the manufacturers could start looking at new designs that provide quality and are environmentally friendly. KRELL, BAT, C.J., Classe ... are you listening?