Can you leave class D amps on and not ever turn them off?


Can you leave class D amps on and not ever turn them off?

128x128rvpiano

I have had the following class D amps in my system over the years: Bel Canto REF500 and REF1000 Mk.2. Rowland M312 and M925. In all cases, I have left them on 24/7 while monitoring the local wheather like a hawk. Whenever thunderstorms are in the forecast for the day, I always turn off the entire system and unplug each component from the AC outlets.


BTW, with all amps that I used in my system, class D and A/B alike, I have experience that the audible behavior is maximized if left on for about 24 hours while generating some kind of low volume sound... I usually connect an old FM tuner set to interstation hash.


Class A/B amps have included Aragon 4004, Rowland M7, Rowland M625, Rowland M725. All benefited from being at full power 24/7... Invariably took 24 hours for any amp to run at its sweetest. It was possible to run M625 and 725 24/7.... Tried that on the old M7: costed me $150 of AC over a two weeks stretch *Grins!*

 


BTW, I have never experienced an SMPS giving up on me.... All have been rock solid.

     

BTW, I have never experienced an SMPS giving up on me.... All have been rock solid.
But if/when they go, it’s with far more fireworks that linear ones, and they’re not as tolerant to being out of spec as linear ones either. When/if just the caps leak in linear ones they just smell and sound crap, but smp ones can go up big time if the caps go out of spec.
I repaired too many to trust them being left on and home alone, and it’s usually the whole smp board that has to be replaced as the boards/tracks get fried/burnt beyond being fixable.

Cheers George
George can you give us a couple of examples of the ones that go up in smoke?
I think that leaving any component on permanently can cause it to lose its best performance. Even Paul Mcgowen said if you unplug all your components from the wall and then plug them right back in, it can actually improve the system's performance.
Depends on the design of the component. Some sound far better and last longer staying on.