Topic: Leaving SS gear on....

[nickgregory]

So I spent most of yesterday hanging around the house and playing the stereo for the first time since I got the Turntable into my setup. I have never noticed any characteristics of sound improvement in leaving any of my gear on in the past, and I am guessing that any improvement that I may get with the Arcam AVR-300 is minor at best as I have not been able to hear it.  But I did have my Rega fono pre stage on for probably 11 hours yesterday...and as the day went on, it sounded smoother and smooter on the high end.  Now that could be that the unit is finally breaking in (as I am probably just getting close to 50 hours on the unit), but was thinking it was maybe because it was on all day.

Now I have read different things in the past about leaving gear on, vs, not on, but I am curious about leavig the Rega fono on...any risk of doing that?  I dont see myself doing it with the Arcam as to my ears there really isnt an audible difference, but curious if anyone has any input on SS stuff in general...

Thanks in advance...

[carlbeck]

Leave SS on all the time if you can unless it is class A. Class A runs very hot & your electric bill will skyrocket usually. Most other SS stuff is fine to leave on though, even preferred. My phone pre doesn't even have a switch it is on ALL the time, don't worry about it.

[nickgregory]

Leave SS on all the time if you can unless it is class A. Class A runs very hot & your electric bill will skyrocket usually. Most other SS stuff is fine to leave on though, even preferred. My phone pre doesn't even have a switch it is on ALL the time, don't worry about it.

cool, thanks for the input Carl...just wanted to make sure I wasnt shortening the life of the units by doing that...or any other unintended effects...

[carlbeck]

Nick, some folks argue that the turning equipment off & on leads to early failure but I don't know. I leave on what I can leave on. I would leave my MacIntosh on all the time if it wasn't for the blue meters, don't want to burn them out.

[BobW]

I turn my solid state gear off when not in use.
After about 15 to 20 minutes the change in temperature should be nominal for a well-designed amp 
 

Use your ears....

Some engineers have argued that the thermal change during warm up is more damaging than constant on, while others have said that constant on is considerably worse.

One thing to note, especially in the Summer, is that power-outages, lightning strikes, and brownouts will have a much greater likelihood of damaging gear if it is powered on.
It is also doubly energy wasteful to keep gear on in the Summer as you are raising the temperature of the room with gear on, as you cool it with your A/C.