California electrical shortage audio

I live in LA and have been able to monitor the frequency of the Brown outs with an APC power supply that I recently added to our computer. The APC has a "chirp" alarm that goes off when the power drops. Well, it chirps merrily all morning and throughout the day. It used to settle down after midnight, but this is no longer the case as I suspect that the power company is reducing their power output after that time. The Brown outs are not noticeable to me when I am playing music in that they do not cause MY DAC to lose data or cause anything to malfunction. I suspect that the power supplies on my gear have more than enough juice in reserve to cover these partial seconds of power reduction. I do not however play music at high volume. I now turn my SS amp off in between use to conserve energy (it idles in class A) and do not have standby on my tube amp. I do still leave my DAC and player on 24/7 because they both sound a bit lifeless (for many days) following being powered down for any amount of time. What is the difference between depleting the power supply reserves when playing complex music at high volume -vs- having the power input reduced for milliseconds at a time as far as damage to the equipment? I know that steady low (reduced) amperage is hard on power supplies (and light bulbs) but this is not a "steady" reduction of current (amps and voltage), not yet anyway. I also wonder what effect this would have on the power supply of a power supply/conditioner such as a PS model?

Dekay, you will not suffer a loss of current during brownouts. In fact just the opposite is true for most (non-resistive) components that are powered up during brownouts, a rise in current to account for the decrease in voltage while maintaining a desired (let's call it constant) power output. That is the crux of the biscuit.

Brownouts are one of the first phases of power reduction, and do not last short periods, but indeed rather long periods (hours) as the utilities lower the overall electrical distribution grid voltage to compensate for lack of production. The question you ask about the depleting of power supply (amplifiers and the like) reserves compared to brownouts presents two very different cases as I understand it. To maintain the stored energy capacity of the inductors and capacitors of the power supply requires a given AC supply power. If voltage goes down, current goes up to maintain that same power output. Large inductive loads -- AC units, refrigerators, inductive furnaces, etc. are all subject to the same issue. But I think that you may be able to live without your inductive furnace during the brownout anyway.

I realized I didn't address the "brownout" part very well. Brownout gets it's name from the fact that light bulbs, which are resistive loads, glow less brightly during this phase of utility energy conservation. Since the bult is a resistor, as voltage goes down, so does current flow. Not quite the same issue as motors that are being called upon to deliver 1.5 h.p. They simply draw more current at the reduced voltage to obtain the same power output.

Cornfed; Yep, I pretty much agree with you re: leaving amps on. My amp does sound pretty good after only 20-30 of "on" time, but IMO it sounds even better if I leave it on for 2-3 days. This amp (McCormack DNA-2DX) automatically goes into a standby mode after not getting a signal for 10 minutes, and then draws only about 130 watts (rather than about 325 at idle). I typically turn it on 2-3 hours prior to listening. I just thought R. Vandersteen's position on this might be interesting. Cheers. Craig.

......that should be 20-30 minutes. Sorry.