STANDBY on tube amps - what's your practice

I leave mine on throughout the day, and turn it off when going to bed. I think most engineers will tell you that the most "wear and tear" on tubes occurs at power-on.

I'm rather fortunate because I have a Butler amp - they have an automatic slow start power-on, the relays kick in after 15 sec. of ramp up time for the current - no quick in-rush. Also, during normal operation, the Butler's tubes run at only 5% of rated output and require no biasing. BK Butler claims the tubes will last 25 years or more - truly a set and forget tube amp!

Best Wishes,

-RW-

Ether, I have a Cary V12R amp. New tubes. Sometimes it is off for a few days or more. I like the way you use your system. Very carefully. Warm up AND cool down procedures. You seem to be very careful with the equipment that you've spent your hard earned money on. Even if you got it for free, why screw it up. The only thing I do differently is to unplug the system when not in use due to lightening. I usually keep my Cary SLP98P preamp in the operating position when the Amp is in standby mode. Good luck and keep that system of yours nice.

Standby PRE--on 24/7

AMP has none. Wouldn't want to demo my rig to a golden ear until my amp had 30 minutes to toast up

I have BAT pre and BAT tubed cd player. I asked BAT this very question and Viktor, owner and designer, responded. He said that I may completely turn off equipment if music plays back as it should within 15 minutes of turning on. He also stated that there is no way of knowing how the tube life is affected with the equipment being turned on and off versus standby. With that being said I keep mine in standby unless I am away for a few days.

I have a Spectron amp which I always leave on, per their instructions.

It's very important to wait until your tubes' heaters warm up their cathodes, and create an electron cloud around them(in "standby") before applying plate voltage(B+, or operating voltage). Otherwise you'll wear out the tubes via "cathode stripping". Your procedure is an excellent practice of that understanding. My tubed equipment remains on "standby" all weekend, or over holidays, because I know I'll be listening to the system a lot during those periods. Other than that: I turn them off, and back on("standby" for a few minutes, then "plate voltage") about an hour before I plan on listening to my music. SS stays on 24/7/365(unless I'm leaving town).

Great replies - thank you.
there still seem to be some significant differences.
Keeping an amp in stadby most of the time (even days on) is surely not what I was thinking of doing...
My thinking was that even in stadby - there is some Voltage and thus there is some "wear" on the tubes. That's the main reason why I never keep my amp in standby if I know I won't listen to any music for say...6-8 hrs. (like overnight or while at work).

Please keep your comments coming - good learning