Do you leave your components on 24/7?

The manufacturers of my SS disc player and SS preamps say to leave them on all the time (one of the preamps doesn't even have an on/off switch). My tubed CD player has a convenient switch that turns off only the analoge (tube) power while leaving the digital section powered up. Since it has only two tubes, I often leave both analoge and digital powered up all weekend since I listen at various times. My SS Class A power amps (300wpc) get very hot. Fortunately, there is a bias switch that can be used to lower the power and the heat. Although I generally turn the amps on only when I want to listen, having the bias switch gives me the option to bias down and leave them on for longer periods of time (although they still get warm). I have thought about switching to SS amps that can be left on all the time, but there are only a couple of A/B designs I would consider switching to. When I had tubed preamps, I sometimes considered the trade off between using NOS tubes and turning the preamp on and off, or running less expensive tubes but leaving the preamp powered up all the time.

You'll find this thread to be of interest. IMO, the conclusion expressed by Cathode in his post dated 2-8-11 is the best possible answer to this perennial question:

Depending on what kind of gear you have, how it's designed, and how you use it, turning it on/off vs leaving it on is truly component specific; making a blanket recommendation is not possible.... FWIW - I work as a reliability engineer in the semiconductor industry.

Regards,
-- Al

I leave mine on all the time, even the amp with Nuvistors. But I wouldn't leave a Class A amp on. My line stage has a standby as it has a Class A circut. I also have protection in case of storms when I am not here.

As was pointed out above, the answer is component specific. My ARC 150.2 SS amp is designed to be left on 24/7, and in fact ARC comments that if turned off, it can take up to a week to get back to full "musicality" once it is turned back on. My CDP stays on stand-by when not in use. But my ARC tube preamp is turned off after use, and only turned on when I'm going to listen; ARC's comment is that leaving it on continuously would merely wear out the tubes prematurely.

Hello Mitch2. You should try Sanders Sound Systems Magtech amplifier. It is recommended that it stay on all the time. Look at the review in the February 2011 issue of the Absolute Sound. You have 30 days to audition the amp in your own system and the amp has a lifetime warranty. It will deliver 500 watts RMS into 8 ohms and 900 watts into 4 ohms. It will truly make your speakers sing. Check out all the info on Sanders Sound Systems website. I use the Magtech to drive a pair of Duntech Sovereigns.