ssh Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 I'm not asking for advice, but another thread made me wonder how many do this, & if so, why? SURVEY Says, Do You? Yes or No Why? or Why Not? SSH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssh Posted August 11, 2006 Author Share Posted August 11, 2006 No I use my amps an average of 2-4 hrs. /day each, & let them warm for only a few minutes beforehand. 24/7 seems to me to be OK on one of the Earth's Poles, though. SSH[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 If you don't mind the risk of fire and shortening the life span of your tubes [] How long does it take your system to warm up ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 If you don't mind the risk of fire and shortening the life span of your tubes [] How long does it take your system to warm up ? Agree. Not me. I turn 'em off with 15 - 20 min. warm-up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 NO! I am not made of money. Good tubes are expensive enough let alone just burning them up for no reason! If I am going to listen later in the day, I will leave them on. If I am planning to not listen for the rest of the day or for longer, they go off. Tubes will "keep" nearly forever if left alone but if they are on you are clicking off the number of hours of limited life that they have Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 As I said in the other thread, definitely not. My amps are 400 watts each, and 800 watts is a lot of current and power, producing noticeable heat and higher power bills. Tube life would be shortened over time (I don't know by how much). On top of that, two output tubes developed shorts over a 2-3 year period, and that makes me uneasy. The manufacturer says not to leave them on unattended. lc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssh Posted August 11, 2006 Author Share Posted August 11, 2006 5 min. warm-up SSH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 5 min. warm-up SSH My last pair of tube amps took a good 20-30 to get warmed up so I wouldn't worry about it at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trioid Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 Preamp and CDP, OK at least over the weekend. Power amp, no way. Fire it up when you are listening. Ready to listen in 5 min, 30 min and it is optimum. jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilbert Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 Being that it would be physically impossible to listen to my system 24/7, that, coupled with the cost of nos or vintage tubes, not to mention needless power consumption for.... No Way, I don't and wouldn't even consider it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbflash Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 yes and no. in the summer no, unless i'm at the house. too many thunder storms pop up in the afternoon. we are in the middle of a draught and sure as heck it we finally got some rain yesterday afternoon. of course i don't have the top on the jeep and I must have had 3 inches of rain inside the jeep. i made it home and decided i was going to put the vrd's on the triple points last night. each amp takes 3 and they are a dawg to do by myself. i got the first 2 points under the first amp when the power at the house went on off on off and finally stayed off. got the amp back on the shelf and finally found a flashlight. if my system would have been on i wouldn't have been surprise to loose a tube or too. another reason i don't leave them on all day while i'm away is there is too much of a voltage drop. everyone is running the ac. i have learned to adjust bias after 2 in the morning because of this. in the winter i will leave them on more. tonight when i get home i will power up my system (we are getting bad storms here now, so that may all change) and if no more bad weather is forecasted i will turn them off when i leave for work monday morning. like everyone also has mentioned when i get home (usually by 7pm) i power the system up. time i feed the dawgs, play with them for awhile i will start listening. they have warmed up enough so the system sounds good. by about 10:30 they really start sounding good because people are starting to go to bed and i start getting good power. danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 I always turn off my amps. 5 to 20 minute warmup. I leave my preamp in standby mode 24/7 except when on vacation or when work is being done on the house that could result in breakers being shut off. Tubes are too costly as others said along with needless power consumption. My electric bill is high enough as is! How about turning off the motor on your TT while switching LPs? I always do but I've seen others who don't. I'll leave it running if I'm taking a break and not switching sides but that's the extent of it. I suppose those with a felt mat could do it without harming LPs but my platter is acrylic. Not sure I'd do it anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 "in the winter i will leave them on more." You heatin' your house with em Danny? [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 No I used to leave them on all day and night when I was home all weekend but not in the last two years though because since I got divorced, I am never home all weekend. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSport Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 Turn 'em on and listen...turn 'em off when done. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackpod Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 No it is only on while in use. Extended on times build up heat Jack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 I turn em off after listening unless I'll be listening again in the next couple of hours or so. I don't think I've ever been able to hear a difference between warmed up for a few minutes or having run for hours. I'm not a tech type, but it would seem to me that once the tubes get up to temp and starting doing their work, nothing much will change. Earlier on in my tube experience, I would leave them on longer, but have come to the conclusion I would prefer not wear out the tubes so quickly. Then there is use of power, too. Don't know how much that would amount to, but why waste it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrot Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 Boy, have things changed dramatically since the days of Mobile Homeless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrot Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 For preamps, not for power amps, Mark Deneen made an excellent post once and I saved it because it was so excellent. Here it is: 1. Rick is pretty close with his 25W. It's actually about 20W. Close enough. About 20W in standby mode and about 25W in fuil on mode. In terms of energy, the heaters consume the most. 2. The "turn on/turn off" issue as a potential damage to tubes. Well, this is hard to pin down because of course you have to ask HOW MANY cycles of on/off we are talking about? IMO, 7 cycles a week is not nearly enough to be deemed "damaging" in the sense that this issue is usually presenting itself. If we were talking 100 cycles a day, I think that's the kind of range where trouble would be found. I usually advise the following: If you are an everyday listener, you will probably be best served by leaving it ON or STANDBY 24/7, because a fully warmed up unit definitely sounds superior, and who wants to wait that first hour? Yes, it takes a BlueBerry or Peach a full hour to come to full temperature rise. (Although after 20 minutes or so the sound is about 98% "there." The tubes reach operating temp pretty quick, the core of the massive transformer takes one hour to settle.) Tubes are however, 'candles', and the longer they burn the quicker they burn out. No avoiding that. So, it's a cost benefit problem. Leaving it on will increase your ownership costs. Turning it off will decrease your listening pleasure. A happy compromise would probably involve knowing when you are going to listen, and turning it on an hour ahead of that. If you listen for an hour a day, and leave it on for the other 23 hours, clearly you are getting a low ratio of useful hours vs. tube life. A good set of OEM tubes should last around 10,000 hours of ON TIME (we conservatively understress the tubes). Now, in the 24/7 mode, that gives you a bit over a year. In the 2 hours-per-week of listening mode, keeping it off in between - you are going to get 100 years of life! Lots of room in between to make your choice. The cost of a decent set of OEM tubes is around $60 for a BBX. The cost of a set of NOS or VU (Vintage Used) tubes might be as high as $600.00 or more. How much money do you have and how do you like spending it? Back to the on/off issue. There are lot's of anecdotes about tubes failing suddenly during turn on. This adds to the on/off cycling mystery but it doesn't add in a conclusive or scientific way. You'd really have to set up a specific test rig and go through the process to make a clear determination. What I said above represents my intuition about the problem - I think it takes more cycling than we are generally talking about. I have no substantive evidence either way. I think maybe Robster would be a good candidate for leaving the unit OFF. I think Gary represents the best candidate for leaving it ON! md Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgeraci Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 Amps, only on twenty minutes or so before I need them. Otherwise, off. Preamp, standby or on daytime hours during the weekend. During the week, off. CD player, standby or on daytime hours during the weekend. During the week, off. Carl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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