"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

Showing 1 response by cruz123


From the Cary Audio website:

4. When is it best to turn my equipment off?

This brings us to an ongoing debate. Which is better-leaving the product on 24 hours a day or turning it on and off? Both will shorten the life of your tubes. So what should you do? The answer lies somewhere between the two. If you listen faithfully for several hours a day then leave the unit on. You do not want to turn it on and off several times a day. This is worse than leaving it on 24 hours a day. If you listen two or three times a week or just on weekends, turn the unit off when not in use. In this case, allow one hour for warm up time. For the weekend listener, turn the unit on Friday and turn it off Sunday night. This will optimize tube life for your amplifier. Preamplifiers and CD players should stay on all the time. The tube replacement cost for these units is considerably less than amplifiers. Most of our amplifiers have a Standby feature. The Standby is there to pre-warm the tubes before operating. Tubes generally last longer if they have only a few minutes of warm up time.

Most tubes will last for many years. Some will fail after a short period of time. As more tubes are being manufactured, the quality is excellent and the life is longer."