Leave it on all the time, or turn it off?

[Rockdog]

Going back to some of my first pieces of audio gear, the salesperson or shop would often say, "leave it turned on all the time", as it supposedly lessened wear and tear by eliminating the warm/cool cycle. Just recently considered rebuilding an older A/B amp and was told to never shut it off. "I had mine on for five years straight until we had the carpet cleaned" , so the rep told me.

So, what gives? As I've shifted to newer equipment I now have a switching power supply for a class D amp as well. Is there any benefit to leaving components on all the time? Both with big beefy toroidal or newer switching power supplies?

 

[Koeitje]

Turn it off.

 

[BinkieHuckerback]

Turn it on again. Do you work in IT?

 

[Pennyless Audiophile]

If you turned it on again, then turn it off, now.

 

[Zek]

 

[Count Arthur]

I think there's some truth to the notion of leaving equipment powered on because it lessens the likelyhood of problems caused by inrush current, particularly with equipment that uses large transformers. However, this issue can be ameleiorated with the use of a soft start circuit to limit the inrush current at initial switch on, so to some extent, it may be beneficial for poorly designed equipment.

On the other hand, some electronic components have a finite life span, valves and capacitors in particular, so leaving equipment powered on all the time will ultimately shorten its life.

I turn my equipment completely off at the mains.

 

[Rockdog]

..guess the answer is don't post a question on ASR on Friday afternoon. I've just turned it off, now what?

 

[mansr]

Turn it on again. Do you work in IT?

 

[devopsprodude]

I leave my desktop gaming rig on all the time and haven't had many issues throughout the years. But I leave it on, so it's available, not for other reasons. In my experience, most electronic devices don't fail either way for a very long time.

 

[LTig]

Turn it on again. Do you work in IT?

What got Turn it on again to do with IT?

 

[Takanaka]

My parents taught me to not waste electricity, so I turn everything off once I’m done with it. With the exception of when I go away from home for a few hours.

 

[Pennyless Audiophile]

My parents taught me to not waste electricity, so I turn everything off once I’m done with it. With the exception of when I go away from home for a few hours.

In that case you leave everything on

 

[Pennyless Audiophile]

Legend has that Schrodinger's audio equipment was on and off at the same time.

 

[Mountain Goat]

Quantum audio. You look at it and it turns on. Just don't look again until you're done.

 

[Speedskater]

It's the same question that was asked about old fashioned incandescent light bulbs. And the answer is: depends on how long it's going to be unused.

 

[Rockdog]

Do you think the guy who wanted $2500 to rebuild my 30 year old amp was full of it when he said his amp was on for five years straight until he cleaned his carpet?

I got a whiff of BS on that, and probably a whiff of his nasty azz carpet too..

 

[Rockdog]

What got Turn it on again to do with IT?

That's ITs answer for everything and why they make big bucks.

 

[Rockdog]

My parents taught me to not waste electricity, so I turn everything off once I’m done with it. With the exception of when I go away from home for a few hours.

I taught my kids that too, that's why every light in the house is still on when they leave.

 

[norcalscott]

Do you think the guy who wanted $2500 to rebuild my 30 year old amp was full of it when he said his amp was on for five years straight until he cleaned his carpet?

I got a whiff of BS on that, and probably a whiff of his nasty azz carpet too..

Especially since the power had to have gone off at some point during that span.

 

[izeek]

Touchy subject. I leave mine on most of the time.
Primarily so that it will be warm when I jump in.
Might not be real but I feel like my kit really starts sounding good about three hours in if starting cold.
Leaving it on, to me, lessens warm-up by a couple hours.
Prolly all in my mind but I'm good with that.