2. amps-preamps
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Warm Up Time/Cost of Operation

When I have solid state gear I will leave it on 24/7. For amplifiers this was no big deal and with certain amps previously I could hear the differences between a cold start up and 3 days of power up. 

A year ago I bought a pair of Classe Omega monoblocks. A bit ago the wife was commenting on our electrical bill. I could not find online specs for power consumption but this morning I located the manual.

Consumption is listed at 706 watts. I assume this is per amp and hourly consumption. Electricity here is 12.6 cents per KWH. A calculator shows the cost of 24/7 on ad being $126 a month. 

It's a bit wasteful to idle like that so I am planning on switching off moving forward. But I am wondering what should my plan be moving forward.

 Thinking I will turn them on when listening in the morning casually, shut them off while at work, turn them on when I get back, and shut off when I go to bed. 

Anyone have experiences running big amps like mine in this manner? Thoughts and experiences are greatly appreciated. 

neonknight

Showing 1 response by gumbedamit

gumbedamit
97 posts
 

@bipod72 . I was going to post the same thing. I have 2 sets of amps, the grand daddy to your Omega’s

The CAM350’S, Oddly enough they don’t consume as much as my Acoustat TNT200’s

I don’t have the idle consumption for the Classe’s, but the TNT200’s consume 100 watts each, Even at 8 cents a KWH for me, leaving them on 24/7 seems wasteful. I don’t listen every day. Usually I know when I’m in that mood to listen for hours, I power the amps up a day before, which keeps the heat and the energy bill down. The funny thing is, I can look at hourly consumption from my provider and know exactly when I have my music marathons....One other note, my TNT200’s drive my Acoustat Spectra 33’s, (Electrostats)which I do leave plugged in 24/7

Enjoy the Music

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