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Threat of fire from audio equipment

Just read Art Dudley's new piece in Stereophile, and found myself becoming all sorts of worried. For many, many years now, I've left solid state equipment powered on -- except during thunderstorms or when heading away from home for extended periods. Now, I'm rethinking this practice.

See Mr. Dudley's article here:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/listening-193-nordost-flatline-cables

My questions:

Is what happened to him the rarest of things, like someone's being struck by lightning? Is putting an amp (or another piece) into standby mode any better than leaving it on -- when it comes to preventing fire, that is -- or can a unit in standby mode burst into flames just like one that's powered on fully? Do others worry about fire? As much as I appreciate a fully warmed-up system, if fire is a legitimate concern, I'll routinely switch things off when I'm not around and listening. Or about to listen.

I'd love to learn what others -- especially those who understand engineering and electricity -- do with their equipment.

Thanks very much.

Howard
 
hodu

Showing 1 response by inna

inna
7,132 posts
 
Now that I will call a reliable piece - Levinson preamp.
I have transistor equipment and cannot hear any difference after two hours of warm up, and the difference between one hour and two hours is small. This doesn't mean that others wouldn't hear or/and that I wouldn't hear it with other equipment. I don't leave the equipment on unattended, this includes overnight.
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