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"Off" vs. "Standby" and tube life

Hi everyone. I currently have a tubed cd player and a solid state integrated. I want to turn my cd player off when I am not using it to prolong tube life but my integrated sounds much better when left on 24/7. Here's my question - my integrated has a standby switch. When I am powering off my system, can I put the amp into standby and then turn my CD player off. I know I am supposed to power down the amp before powering down the source but does putting it into standby qualify?

I realize that there are differing opinions on whether leaving a tubed piece on all the time is better than turning it off and on but that aside I'm interested in learning more about "standby" vs. "off"

Thanks in advance.
tooter
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
Larryi,

A refrigerator is less affected to fires than tube equipment.
Its life span is approximately 20 years and seing and also repairing older ones that, I've seen no fire damage.
Tube equipment has high voltages that could fry circuit board as a piece of paper. If you want me to show proof I can post photos of a PC board hole of an amplifier turned on 24/7 where just one EL34 tube went bad...
A similar "holes" I've seen when I repaired TVs but never I saw SS amp to have this kind of damage unless it's been used as a commercial DJ amp.
hpims
129 posts
 
ANYTHING left on wears out. That is simple physics.
robm321
932 posts
 
just turn in on 20-30 minutes before listening then shut it off afterwards. No sense in wasting the tube life when not listening.
avguygeorge
2,300 posts
 
Been a tube guy for 20 years. I have always shut things down after each session. This refers to amps and pre amps./ My CAT has 10 tubes. To retube my CJ 8's is well over 1k. A one or 2 tube cd player would be best left on 24/7. Cost of retubing a CJ amp or CAT pre, being a big reason why I shut things down.
tooter OP
85 posts
 
Thanks everyone.
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