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Amps and Preamps has standby, but should I turn them completely off?

Hi guys, I know there has been discussions of this and the overall consensus seems to be leaving the Solid State amps / preamps on (or standby). I have a Parasound A51 that runs pretty hot. The heat sinks are hot to touch after running them for 2 hours. Ever since I move them to the 2nd floor (gets hot in the summer), I worry that they'd run too hot so I turn them completely off (by switching off the surge protector) after each use. Note that standby mode doesn't solve the heat issue -- it still generates a significant amount of excess heat. 

My question is:
1. Does turning them off after each use shorten their life?
2. Does turning them off increase the probability of failure?
3. Does the excessive heat damage them in the long run by leaving them on?

I am not too worried about warm up time because I use them 2-3 times a week tops. I just don't want the excess heat on the 2nd floor since it's already much warmer than the 1st floor. 

Thanks!!
angelgz2
terry9
2,354 posts
 

I think it is a little complicated for a categorical response.

Semiconductors do not like to be switched on and off. Neither do they like to run really hot, and some heat sink compounds can dry out.

Electrolytic caps (aka power supply caps) do not like to be turned off and on. But they really hate being hot.

All told, I think that turning on and off is better for a unit that runs hot. Especially if heat is inconvenient, or you don't own the power company.

brauser
526 posts
 
I turn off my preamp and cd player, but leave my mono amps on all the time. The reason is that keeping the amps on causes a small amount of current to go to the speakers and acts as a 'sealing current' to the connections. The mono amps do not run hot and they are in a cool environment. The preamp and cd player take some time to warm up, but don't seem to be affected by not being on for extended time frames.
68pete
1,004 posts
 
I think it really depends on what you mean by on and off. Turning your equipment on and off several times a day can not be good for it. Turning  your equipment on in the am when you get up then turning it off when you go to bed, i feel is much better.  I leave my solid state pre amp on all the time it does not have a stand by unless i am out of town i power it off. The same with my disc player. The screens on both units are set to go off 15 minutes  after the music stops. so there is no screen burn shadow on them. The amp is in stand by if not in use and is off when out of town. I was all ways told turning them on and off does more damage than leaving them on as long as they do not run real hot. plus they sound a lot better when they are fully warmed up to go. I talked with Mark  Levinson and Esoteric and this is what they recommend to me.
enjoy Pete
salevick
77 posts
 
I have another slant on this issue.  I pull the plugs on all my equipment when I leave for an extended period of time.  I live in an area that is prone to severe lightning strikes and no surge protector is sufficient to prevent the dreaded blue smoke.  I imagine I am shortening the life of some components of my gear but I think the trade off is worth it. 
angelgz2 OP
43 posts
 
Got some good answers here. Thanks guys. Yeah, I agree it's all about the trade off. Since I almost exclusively using the units over the weekend, I believe you'll probably agree it's a good idea to turn them off over the 5 week days and turn them on Saturday morning, then, shut them off Sunday night. What I meant by "completely turning them off" is switching off the power conditioner, thus equivalent to pulling the plug. We do get thunder storms here often too in central Illinois. I think this way I minimize the heat problem, chance of electric shock, while also minimizing having to turn them off and on during the weekend. 

Thanks again guys, appreciate the help. 
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