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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
aball
2,018 posts
 

@soix You can look up ripple capacitor ratings yourself.  Also, McCormack doesn't care if your caps are shot or not lol.  He's in the business of selling amps.  The degradation is gradual so you probably won't realize it until they bulge and blow a fuse.  But I've repaired around 50 amplifiers at this point so I have seen it all.

leorousseau's avatar
leorousseau
70 posts
 

On 24/7/365

markalarsen's avatar
markalarsen
660 posts
 

For the last five years, Bel Canto Black EX is always on except for power outages. components with tubes always turned off after use, but require warm up after they are powered up.

scottya118
167 posts
 

Tubes: Turn off at end of usage.

SS: Leave on all the time.

aball
2,018 posts
 

@jl35 I've repaired over 50 amplifiers.  Leaving them on 24/7 definitely shortens their lifespan due the wet-electrolytic power supply capacitors failing.  Pass knows this, but the failure is gradual (takes about 2000 hours) and he figures you won't be comparing your amp to a new one to notice the difference anyway.

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