How long daes it take your gear to warm up?

Minor1, you say that leaving equipment on all the time will shorten equipment life. Do you have proof of this or is this just your theory?

I ask because I know some capacitor manufacturers who recommend cycling (turning equipment on/off) to help speed up break in and extend the life of their product. On the other hand, many other electrical components like switches, relay's, resistors, etc are more prone to failure due to the in rush currents that come from cycling. So it would seem to me that leaving equipment on 24/7 may shorten or may extend the life expectancy of your audio gear. I have no charts or graphs to back up my theory, just my $0.02.

I leave solid state components on 24/7 whether in stand-by or full on. SS phono pre is 'full on' 24/7. SS CDP is in standby 24/7. Tube pre-amp and mono-block amps get turned on about 30 min before listening to music. After 1-2 hrs. playing music, something magical seems to happen. Acoustic levitation, I call it.

Jmcgrogan2,

I suppose it depends on the particular components and the particular environment based on the specific implementation. If you look at specification sheets for capacitors, transistors, diodes there is always a difference in life expectancy based on the exposure to heat. Heat shortens life considerably. If one has equipment that runs hot, it is best not to keep it on continuously.

You do have a good point about relay and switches--life time is specified for the the number of on off cycles.

I keep my cd player on all the time because that is what the manufacturer recommends. I am sure that is based on sound quality and NOT a recommendation for extended life (the separate power supply stays fairly warm all the time). The manufacturer says it takes more than a day for the equipment to sound its best if it has been turned off for any significant amount of time. I do, however, turn things off and unplug them from the wall when I am away or when there is an electrical storm in the area. I turn off all tube gear when not in use (everything has a rectifier which means no great inrush current or a soft start cicuit).

The first 15 minutes or so sounds somewhat stilted, then my amps and preamp goes through a nice change and starts sounding like music. By the first hour there are no worries :)

I leave it off when not in use. The stereo gets turned on first thing when I get home. The amps are put in Standby if I step out for a little while. They will retained their warmed up character all day in Standby if need be. But if I am gone all day I turn everything off.

My systems sound seems to me to be optimum at about 24 hours. Have you ever walked in a room that is real quiet and you think you can hear the quiet. Well you are wrong you are wrong you are wrong. I just felt like I needed to say that. Well that is much like what my system does at about 24 hours so, the sound it puts out seems more colorful musically speaking(not colored tonally). SS amp and preamp, and cdp.