Do you leave your SS amp on all the time?

Since I recently switched from a 300 wpc amp to a 100 wpc (both 8 Ohm), I leave it on and do not turn the voulume down. My amp only runs slightly warm. BTW, since I've been leaving the amp on full time, my stereo system sounds its best at all times. All my other components have standby modes. Cheers. Craig

Jmcgrogan: If you've never had your Threshold powered up for at least 3 days consecutive, you've never heard what it can do. Honest.

High bias designs are the most sensitive to thermal cycling / sonics. The lower the bias on the amp, the less differences that you'll notice if cycling power off an don as needed. Higher biased amps ( these run hot at idle ) will always sound better when leaving them turned on. I do agree that it is a good idea to kill the power to them if you will not be around for an extended period of time or if you are expecting severe storms.

I have six amps ( four Threshold products and two Perreaux's ) in one room that idle at about 120* - 130* each. These stay on all the time.

I have two amps ( modified Kinergetics KBA-202A Platinum mono-blocks ) that idle at about 110* in my office system. These stay on all the time.

My HT amps ( Sunfire Signature & Sunfire Cinema Grand Signature ) stay on all the time although these draw VERY little current at idle. As such, they run cool to the touch unless pushing them hard. I could power these down and not really notice much of a difference after about a half an hour of use.

My bedroom amps ( two Quad 405's ) stay on all the time.

My tube based system is powered up and shut down as needed. I am a firm believer in letting tubes "heat up" prior to passing signal. I also let them "heat down" prior to shutting off.

So, do i get the "wattage waster" award or what ??? : ) Sean
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Leaving the amps on generally makes 'em sound better, but some do stabilize after an hour or so to the point where leaving them on longer makes no difference. Depends what you have; my Levinson mono's sound their best after 24 hours, my ARC peaked out an hour after start, and my Forte seemed to get better day after day after day. Similar differences with other amps I had - the Class A's took a lot longer to settle in than the A/B's.

If your amp has a current inrush limiting (soft start)circuit, then daily on/off should not "stress" components. However, if your lights dim or if you hear a buzzing on start up, then leave it on. That's stress.

The only problems I see with leaving them on all the time is a) it's not a good idea when not at home, and b) the premium on your electric bill if they're Class A.

Sean definitely gets (at least) the nomination for wattage waster for the millenium. Detlof is probably up there too.

BTW, I leave my amps on all the time (class A) unless there's a storm or I'm away for days. It takes my system ~48 hours of operation to perform well...

Sean, maybe I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that leaving class A amps on all the time would significantly lower their lifespan. I've seen many used Threshold/Coda and other class A amps on the used marketplace where the heatsinks have discolored from black to like a bronze or purple. I don't know if this is from abuse or leaving powered up all the time. Since the IGBT's in my T400 are irreplaceable, I don't want to risk wearing them out. I also believe that it sounds better quicker than other SS A/AB amps that I've owned (Classe, Coda, Aragon). It sounds as good 1 hour after power up as it does after 8-10 hours, IMHO. The other amps (A/AB), I used to leave powered up, but they didn't run so damn hot and they also would take 2-4 hours for the sound to warm up.

Regards,
John