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Effects of Power Outages Where You Live

More and more, power outages seem to be an issue for me and I believe for audiophiles in general. We have had two wind storms like never before in the last 5 months that wiped out the power in my area of Ohio. Major work by the electric company has to be done to restore the power when these storms occur. Power was lost at my home once for 7 days back in September because of an extreme wind storm. The one that just happened caused only about 24 hours with lost power. How long do you think it takes your audio system's performance to restore to normal after you have unplugged it and it sits for 24 hours? Additionally, when the electric company is rebuilding damaged equipment, adding new transformers etc. what affect do you think this has or has had to the power in your area? What affect(s) has this had on the performance of your audio system?
foster_9
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rx8man's avatar
rx8man
1,484 posts
 
Foster,

It had an "effect" on me when I was doing an auto exchange in Dublin,
near Columbus.

My metal ratchet nylon tie-downs blew off my trailer, then I watched sheets of plywood and plastic tarps lift off the roof of the dealership where they were remodeling sail through the air like a kite over a block away.

Wanna know the weather in Ohio ? Wait 5 mniutes.
bob_bundus
1,834 posts
 
Emerson I assume your question regards solid state (vs. tubes which pretty much warm up almost immediately).

This really depends upon your particular equipment. Some would take 1-2 hours as others have experienced. My own: the PA takes a few hours. The PRE requires over a full day to sound its' best. Assume typically about 30 hours to attain full thermal stabilization with solid state.

When the line is bouncing I always unplug everything just as I do in stormy weather; those line transients are murder on your equipment.
foster_9 OP
1,638 posts
 
Just wanted to let you know that after plugging in my system it did not sound the same after a whole day of being on. Bass in particular and resolution were not as they had been. For those of you espousing a few hours of on-time, the common wisdom seems to be that digital sources take at least 48 hours to return to optimum performance after being turned off or unplugged. That's why many including me almost never turn digital gear off. So for me 48 hours would be the bare minimum of time to expect the system to sound itself. I don't think there are any guarantees however. IMO.
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