solid state gear- leave on?

http://greenspin.blogspot.com/2005_01_16_greenspin_archive.html#110624989534938648

My last ss amp was never left on; it lasted 20 years. I finally got tired of it and sold it and it was still working when I sold it. Maybe I was just lucky. Hope all is well.

Chuck

I tried running my amp 24/7 on cow farts. Sounded great, but the damn cow took up most of my listening room. Smelled pretty vile too. I'm going back to the more simple weasel dung conversion system (WDCS™ patent pending). Much easier to live with. Butt steak anyone?

Marco

It'd neither a good idea nor a bad idea. An amp will sound its best when warmed up and ready to go and every second thereafter will not improve things one bit. If the amp requires many hours before being warmed up, then, yes, I'd go for 24/7. If it only takes 20 minutes, what's the point?

There's no problem with leaving the amp on all the time. There's also no problem with turning it on and off as needed. Whether one way or the other results in a shorter life span has, to my knowlege, never been proven. Who knows - the "stress" effect of cycling and the thermal effects of 24/7 operation may be a wash.

If you leave the amp powered on all the time you have to guard against surges. Being away with a thunderstorm in progress and an amp powered on at home is very trying to say the least.

I agree with Gs5556 on all points. I might add that I think that on/off cycles may affect tube gear, but not SS. It's no coincidence that light bulbs typically burn out just when they're turned on, not when they've already been on for a while. I would expect tube filaments to behave similarly for the most part. It might be good to check with the manufacturer of your component. My favourite manufacturer states that leaving its gear on all the time causes no harm other than using electricity. However, they also advise that if you're not around for any length of time, you should not just turn it off, but also unplug the mains. A lightning bolt that can arc a mile through the air isn't going to have any trouble with the gap at an on/off switch. I've personally had a surge suppresor die in the line of duty protecting my gear from a power surge during an electrical storm. Now when I hear thunder, everything gets unplugged.