Do you leave CD players with tube outputs on?

From conrad johnson's web-site........

"To obtain maximum tube life, vacuum-tube products should be switched off when not in use. A good general rule for is that if you will not be listening for more than an hour, turn any tube component off. Conrad-Johnson solid-state preamps (including Sonographe and Motif), on the other hand, are designed to be left on at all times. We recommend switching power amps off when unattended and over night."

How long do tubes last?
A. That varies depending on the type of tube, the number of hours of use and the type of use they have had. Typically tubes should last, on average, about 1500 hours before gradual degradation of performance becomes noticeable. This translates into two to three years if the unit is turned off when not in use. Usually tubes will continue to be functional for a long while after this, but sound quality will be reduced and noise levels will increase. In power amplifiers, the input tubes are most critical for sonic performance. If output tubes are not causing problems, they can be replaced every other time.

Most preamps and CD players/DAC's idle in the 10-30 watt range, and over time, it almost certainly is more expensive to keep gear powered up than to lose small-signal tubes through on/off operation. But retubing with some gear is not convenient, tube failure is often gradual and annoying to listen to because of the tendency of tubes that are dying to act up, and there are other parts in equipment, particularly processors in digital gear, that have to be left powered up if they are to sound right in a high-end two channel system (try listening to cold digital gear through a first-rate triode amp or something like a darTZeel on revealing speakers - it sounds awful). I don't like f'ing with tubes and I hate the sound of cold gear, so I leave everything but my tube amp powered up.

I have left my player on for 72+ hours and do hear improvements in sound stage both width and depth, and a little more detail. The CD player runs quite warm to the touch -- Is heat a concern??

My Audio Aero Capitole has been left 'on' 24/7 for over four years with no drop in quality that I can notice. Until I got my Anthem D2 the Capitole served as my main DAC as all other components, including satellite, streaming audio and DVD player. I also used to play lots of CDs.

My cherished Capitole is now 'off' most of the time as my music library is in my computer and I don't play CDs all that often. Still, it does sound great when I do power it up.

Oh, yes the D2 is 'on' 24/7.

I've been leaving mine on for many years. My tubes tend to last years, not months, too. That makes sense to me, since they are relatively low output.