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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
vair68robert's avatar
vair68robert
593 posts
 

Electronics degrade by cycling on/off , true but to what extent ?  leaving on 24/7/365 equals 8,760 hours per year , since most power/filter capacitors are rated for 10,000 hours which would you think causes the most degrading ?  How often do you plan on replacing the electrolytic caps ? how long do you plan keeping your amp ? 

Newer amps have standby modes , older ones are on and off only .  The new Krell 800 watt mono block uses 1 watt in standby and 260 watts on with no music so leaving it in standby is like turning it off , you wouldn't leave it on using 260 watts would you .  My 250 watt amp uses 84 watts at idle/on , there isn't a standby mode so leaving it on is not very practical .

If leaving your amp sounds better to you then do so but think about the true cost depending on the amp you own .

 

kingbr
269 posts
 

I use my HT system Friday/Saturday/Sunday. Mon-Thurs the wife and I are in our living room. I used to leave everything on. But then figured if my system was going to be completely unused for 4 days, wouldn't it be better to power everything down? So only recently have I started doing that. And I mean I power everything down, DAC's, Processor, Amp, Streamer, and all 4 of my subs. I actually flip switches powering everything off fully.

Then on Thursday night before bed I power everything up. I don't play the system. Then fist thing Friday AM before work I run the streamer at low volume and let it play all day so it's nice and warmed up by the time I get home.

 

Then everything stays on until Sunday night when we go to bed all switches off.

 

I'm sticking with this routine😁

yogiboy's avatar
yogiboy
5,484 posts
 

That amp uses 20 watts on idle. That's less than a low wattage lamp bulb. If it sounds better leave it on!

AC Input

  • Auto-ranging AC Input
  • 100 to 120 VAC +/- 10%, 8 Amps, 50 - 60 Hz
  • 220 to 240 VAC +/- 10%, 8 Amps, 50 - 60 Hz
  • Idle Power Consumption = 20 W
  • Standby Power Consumption < 0.5 W
phishhhhh4's avatar
phishhhhh4
59 posts
 

My pass Labs INT-60 manual tells me that it was designed to stay powered on so I changed my practice of putting in stand by and I just leave it in now

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