Leaving amps powered 24-7

[sgt. pepper]

I have adcom, B&K and Emotiva amps. Should I leave them powered 24-7 or add a Panamax or Furman power conditioner that turns them on and off automatically?

thx

 

[panteragstk]

I have adcom, B&K and Emotiva amps. Should I leave them powered 24-7 or add a Panamax or Furman power conditioner that turns them on and off automatically?

thx

If those conditioners have a sequencer then I'd use it and let them power off the amps.

I don't power off my sub amps, but I'm lazy and haven't tried to find a good way to do it since there really isn't an issue.

 

[sterling shoote]

All of my equipment is on 24/7.

 

[Swerd]

The debate whether switching amps or other electronic gear on & off shortens their lives has been around as long as I can remember. When all that gear had vacuum tubes, this might have made sense. Powering them on & off put may have put more stress on their filaments than leaving the power on. But not with solid state gear. I think this is yet another holdover from those older times.

 

[lovinthehd]

I use a smart power strip so when my avr turns off so do the external amps....and back on when the avr goes back on.

 

[sgt. pepper]

If those conditioners have a sequencer then I'd use it and let them power off the amps.

I don't power off my sub amps, but I'm lazy and haven't tried to find a good way to do it since there really isn't an issue.

Thanks!. I agree on the subs. I have 2 JL Audio 112s and have always left them powered. The other problem I have is that my cat eats the sound absorption material I have glued to the doors. Any thoughts on that? Hahhah

 

[BMXTRIX]

Many amps have a 12v trigger control that can power them on and off. Depends on the specific make/model of the amp.
Other amps automatically can detect signal and self-power on and off. Depends on the specific make/mode of the amp.
Some amps do not like being powered on/off.. Depends on the....

I have half a dozen Rotel amps which power my distributed audio system. They have a near-zero noise floor and draw very little power when there is no signal going through them. They have been powered on, non-stop, for almost 15 years. I haven't lost a single channel and they sound as good as new.

If these amps were used for surround sound, I would use a 12v trigger to power them on or off I believe. I have installed systems where I've put in 12v triggers on the client's equipment when there are separate pre-pro/amps in the system. I've also just put in amps that have been set to auto-power on/off.

I struggle most with using a power strip. Hard powering an amp on and off is the LAST option I would choose. It's hard on the power supplies in the amp to constantly drain, then get kicked back up again. Power supply issues are way up there on why amps fail. Right next to overheating because they are jammed into a closet without any airflow.

Keep the power on and use their internal power controls only. Do not hard-power off gear. Just protect the gear with a UPS if you are concerned about it.

 

[Pogre]

So where do standby modes fall into this category? Is standby actually fully powering off or..?

 

[panteragstk]

So where do standby modes fall into this category? Is standby actually fully powering off or..?

Standby for most devices is considered "off", but a lot of equipment has on, standby, off so I guess "it depends".

 

[panteragstk]

Many amps have a 12v trigger control that can power them on and off. Depends on the specific make/model of the amp.
Other amps automatically can detect signal and self-power on and off. Depends on the specific make/mode of the amp.
Some amps do not like being powered on/off.. Depends on the....

I have half a dozen Rotel amps which power my distributed audio system. They have a near-zero noise floor and draw very little power when there is no signal going through them. They have been powered on, non-stop, for almost 15 years. I haven't lost a single channel and they sound as good as new.

If these amps were used for surround sound, I would use a 12v trigger to power them on or off I believe. I have installed systems where I've put in 12v triggers on the client's equipment when there are separate pre-pro/amps in the system. I've also just put in amps that have been set to auto-power on/off.

I struggle most with using a power strip. Hard powering an amp on and off is the LAST option I would choose. It's hard on the power supplies in the amp to constantly drain, then get kicked back up again. Power supply issues are way up there on why amps fail. Right next to overheating because they are jammed into a closet without any airflow.

Keep the power on and use their internal power controls only. Do not hard-power off gear. Just protect the gear with a UPS if you are concerned about it.

This is what I do when available. 12v works great, but my sub amps are pro amps that don't have triggers (would be nice, but oh well).

 

[mtrycrafts]

I have adcom, B&K and Emotiva amps. Should I leave them powered 24-7 or add a Panamax or Furman power conditioner that turns them on and off automatically?

thx

May want to use a Kill-a-Watt meter and see how much energy it uses in a day x 365.

 

[sgt. pepper]

May want to use a Kill-a-Watt meter and see how much energy it uses in a day x 365.

Thanks. I just ordered a meter. What I do know is that the adcom 5500 uses 192va of power at idle and idles hot. My adcom 555 ii uses 72va at idle and runs slightly warm. My adcom 555 is unknown power at idle but idles slightly cooler than the 555 ii. My B&K 200.3 idles warm to warmer with power consumption TBD.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Thanks. I just ordered a meter. What I do know is that the adcom 5500 uses 192va of power at idle and idles hot. My adcom 555 ii uses 72va at idle and runs slightly warm. My adcom 555 is unknown power at idle but idles slightly cooler than the 555 ii. My B&K 200.3 idles warm to warmer with power consumption TBD.

You'd be surprised how much is consumed in a year. There are 8760 hours in a year.
My modem uses 30 Watts an hour and 262kWh a year, just for that one small consumer. Add wi-fi router, doubles that. Mine are on a timer now; don't need it when we are asleep.
That 192VA = 1681kVAh. Add all the others. Huge.

 

[Leemix]

Some electronics arent made for and dont like getting the power yanked away from them time after time so it could get costly to do it that way instead of the standby or on/off button(which sometimes is a standby button).
(Afaik)

All our devices and stuff do add up for sure nowdays.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[panteragstk]

You'd be surprised how much is consumed in a year. There are 8760 hours in a year.
My modem uses 30 Watts an hour and 262kWh a year, just for that one small consumer. Add wi-fi router, doubles that. Mine are on a timer now; don't need it when we are asleep.
That 192VA = 1681kVAh. Add all the others. Huge.

Lord do I not want to know how much my stuff consumes. I know it's a lot, but do I really NEED to know?

 

[mtrycrafts]

Lord do I not want to know how much my stuff consumes. I know it's a lot, but do I really NEED to know?

Not since you didn't ask if it matters.

 

[sterling shoote]

I leave phono preamps, preamps, and power amps on, which precludes pops and transformer vibration. I leave source components off, which extends LED display life, and laser module geometry, which heat can adversely effect. Some of my kit has been in on condition for over 20 years, like a Sony TA-N80ES Power Amp.

 

[Kvn_Walker]

So where do standby modes fall into this category? Is standby actually fully powering off or..?

My Parasound amps have auto standby. I think they pull less than 3 watts in that mode.

 

[Mikado463]

Lots of variables ....... topology class of amps being a big one, Class A amps consume large amounts of juice just idling. I believe the amps you listed are of A/B or even possibly Class D ? The other concern is where you live, are pop-up storms common ? Myself, when I'm away not only is everything turn off, it's unplugged !

 

[Eppie]

So where do standby modes fall into this category? Is standby actually fully powering off or..?

Your AVR for example while turned off is technically in standby mode. Same goes for any device that can be "turned on/off" with a remote control. The power supply and remote sensors have to remain active to be able to receive the remote signal and power up the rest of the device. My Denon has two power buttons on the front. The lit one is a momentary button for On/Standby and changes from green to red. Next to it is a pushbutton switch which physically disconnects the power and turns off the entire AVR, which is a true power off.