Whats the downside of leaving ones amps on allways

Hi. I am by no means a tech, so I posed exactly the same question directly to Blue Circle Audio when I purchased their BC21 preamp and BC22 amp late last year.

Their advice was to leave the components off when not in use to reduce wear on tubes and other parts, and to reduce the chance of damage during a lightning strike. They said a 15 minute warm up period was all that was necessary for good results.

On the other hand, in the manual for my Kora Hermes they specifically say that the DAC was designed to be left on all the time, because their circuits economize the life of the tubes so they last 10,000 hours.

I guess the best thing to do is to consult your manual or contact the manufacturer. Good luck.

i leave my system on all the time, unless i leave towm ,or their is a major storm. i would think that off and on would be harder on most systems. if a tube amp or preamp is not designed properly, then they should also be turned off.

Your electric bill goes up.

Transistor gear, leave on all the time. Tube gear, I usually leave on, unless I know I won't be using it for at least 24 hours. In addition, many tube amps have a plate voltage switch which can be turned off while leaving the filaments powered up. This can add many hours to the life of the power tubes (I usually shut down plate voltage if the amp won't be used for several hours). DON'T TAKE A CHANCE WITH A RANDOM LIGHTENING STRIKE!!! If there is the possibility of electrical storms, shut down an UNPLUG EVERYTHING! Contrary to popular belief, a surge protector will not help if you receive a direct lightening strike on a power line going into your home.

I'm not sure what Naim gear you're running. However my Nait5 sounds terrible when it's cold. After A hour or so it sounds better, and it gets better over the next day or two.

-Patrick