Do you leave your SS amp on all the time?

Leaving the amps on generally makes 'em sound better, but some do stabilize after an hour or so to the point where leaving them on longer makes no difference. Depends what you have; my Levinson mono's sound their best after 24 hours, my ARC peaked out an hour after start, and my Forte seemed to get better day after day after day. Similar differences with other amps I had - the Class A's took a lot longer to settle in than the A/B's.

If your amp has a current inrush limiting (soft start)circuit, then daily on/off should not "stress" components. However, if your lights dim or if you hear a buzzing on start up, then leave it on. That's stress.

The only problems I see with leaving them on all the time is a) it's not a good idea when not at home, and b) the premium on your electric bill if they're Class A.

Sean definitely gets (at least) the nomination for wattage waster for the millenium. Detlof is probably up there too.

BTW, I leave my amps on all the time (class A) unless there's a storm or I'm away for days. It takes my system ~48 hours of operation to perform well...

Sean, maybe I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that leaving class A amps on all the time would significantly lower their lifespan. I've seen many used Threshold/Coda and other class A amps on the used marketplace where the heatsinks have discolored from black to like a bronze or purple. I don't know if this is from abuse or leaving powered up all the time. Since the IGBT's in my T400 are irreplaceable, I don't want to risk wearing them out. I also believe that it sounds better quicker than other SS A/AB amps that I've owned (Classe, Coda, Aragon). It sounds as good 1 hour after power up as it does after 8-10 hours, IMHO. The other amps (A/AB), I used to leave powered up, but they didn't run so damn hot and they also would take 2-4 hours for the sound to warm up.

Regards,
John

When you live in Wisconsin you do whatever you can to keep warm. That's why I buy class A amps. They sound good and warm the room. Unless I'm gone for a while the amps stay on.

The amp is always on, as well as all the other gear. I think the stand by feature is great for this if you have one. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry about it. My pre doesn't even have an On/Off switch.