Amp — Leave on or turn off


I always turned my Benchmark AHB2 amp off after use every night. After all, why is there an on off switch on the front panel if not to do that? Last night I accidentally left it on. This morning, when I played my first record, I couldn’t believe my ears. The same record I played last night sounded infinitely better. I tried a second record and that, too, was much better.
I know there’s a debate on the question of leaving an amp on all the time.
I now know where I stand!

128x128rvpiano

I think what the manufacturer recommends is irrelevant.  What matters  is your own ears, and your willingness to pay the electric bills. :D

If you can't hear a difference, leave your gear off.  If you can, leave it on.  It's that simple.  No measurement is going to tell you any better.

RV, I have repeated your experiment a number of times with the same results. On longer always sounds better, but with diminishing returns, for about a week.

Its’s true of my DIY phono/pre - it’s on all the time. It’s true of my DIY Class A amps (they idle continuously at half power). It’s true of my Bryston SST in the HT (although B recommends turning it off). But since HT doesn’t matter nearly so much, I do turn the B off, and then back on an hour before - but an hour isn’t really enough.

My cartridges take 10-40 minutes too.

As for the car analogy, I ALWAYS used to warm up my engine carefully, and my tires too, before taking a fast lap.

YMMV

I had a Krell FPB 600 amp that I always left in the standby mode until I powered it up to listen. Was doing that for years and years. Then I have now the ARC Ref 750s. And I always let them warm up about 1 hour before listening. Happy listening. 

Class D / on 24/7

Class A / off

RVPiano - are you aware the Benchmark can be set for auto shutdown 

after 45 minutes of sensing no audio signal? Also the Benchmark handbook 

states that due to the SMPS power supply the amp is at its full potential the moment it is turned on. 

Class D / on 24/7

Class A / off

RVPiano - are you aware the Benchmark can be set for auto shutdown 

after 45 minutes of sensing no audio signal? Also the Benchmark handbook 

states that due to the SMPS power supply the amp is at its full potential the moment it is turned on.