Leave an amp "on" permanetly


I understand that tube amps need to warm up sufficently before they can reach their potential. Is this also true with SS amps? I own a McCormack DNA-1 deluxe, and I hear a discernable difference when listening to my system "cold" versus "warmed-up". Do you also find this to be true?

If so, would people recommend leaving a SS amp on permanently? Could I damage my amp by doing this?
drewyou

Showing 3 responses by thomasedison

I can see how it will not harm components to turn them on and off. But I am curious about the following:

How long does it take the average solid state system to 'warm up' and sound its best?

Will it shorten their life to leave them on 24/7?

And how much electricity is used when they are on but idle?
Today's New York Times has an article on how much energy is used by electronics devices that are left on vs. putting to sleep or turning off. Even if you choose to leave your audio components on 24/7, you may want to look at your practices with computer monitors, cpus, dvrs, and cable boxes. Here is the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/14/technology/14basics.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin
Those who don't believe the science of global warming, or who feel its pace is too slow to worry about, may still want to conserve energy for several reasons:

1) $$$. You can save hundreds if not thousands per year in energy bills by conserving. Home energy costs will only increase in the near future as energy costs continue to rise.

2) Most of our power plants run on either oil, which in the U.S. is dependent on foreign sources (therefore to the political consequences of either acquiescing to those country's demands or sending our troops in harm's way to gain solutions in our interest; or our power plants run on coal which cannot sustain us and often has other negative affects, explained below.

3) It is hard science that power plants use up our limited resources of oil and coal, that harvesting oil and coal use up valuable lands (lands that when used for coal are rarely able to be used for other purposes again) and that power plants pollute the air and water around them.