Solid state power amps.; on or off?

Technology has moved on once again. Capacitors are one of the "active" components that benefit from being left on as long as they are not "cooking" inside of a "hot box". When electrolytic caps are not used for an extended amount of time, they first discharge and then begin to dry up. When power is then applied to the unit, there is a MAJOR in-rush current to the caps in order to "fill them". Until they are "filled" they present a near short to the power supply. It is at this time that many caps or other components in the power supply are stressed and "pop" under the instantaneous but large load demanded. Keeping the caps fully charged will cause less thermal stress along with greatly reduced risk of dielectric damage from internal arcing. This is why "techs" use a variac to SLOWLY power up old equipment. They are letting the caps "reform" gradually instead of blasting them with the massive surge that they would normally see upon "firing up". Sean
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Oh well. Different designs and different philosophies. That's why there are different companies and different types of consumers. Either way, you have to wonder why so many "dedicated regulars" that frequent this place tell you one thing and a "respected manufacturer" tells you something different. Maybe it's a case of someone building a product and then someone else using it and knowing how to ring the best performance out of it in the "real world". After all, we don't "listen" to test bench specs and data..... Trust your ears. I've had amps on for YEARS... Sean
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