power on and off an amplificator

[Simon]

Hi, I was told once that it is better to leave my amp at on instead of powering it on and off everytime I use it. Where does the reason come from if it is really a good advice?

thank you

Simon

 

[Unregistered]

The 'theory' is that the most stress occurs to the amp during startup. The reality is that it won't make a bit of difference. Solid state amps are designed for thousands of on/off cycles and well built-in amps/receivers will last for years.

Leave it on all the time if its a chore to turn it on each time, there is no other viable reason to do so.

 

[BMXTRIX]

In the past several years of working with multi-channel amps I would agree that there is little difference between leaving them on all the time or triggering an amp as needed. If a multi-zone house audio system is in use, than leaving the amp on all the time ensures quick audio feeds to the rooms in use instead of waiting, sometimes many, seconds for the amp to power on and provide audio.

But, if it is a dedicated theater amp that does not require a quick power up cycle, then by all means tie it into the preprocessor turning on and let it cycle up and down.

In home audio distribution, I leave them on - in theaters, I turn them off.

 

[Unregistered]

what about the power draw encountered when leaving it on 24/7? my amp is hot when not in use, it must be drawing a fair amoung of watts then?

 

[Mudcat]

Read your manual. The idle wattage should be specified.

 

[BMXTRIX]

I've used, for distributed audio, Adcom, Sonance, and Rotel. All of which run cool when no rooms are in use. So, it could be your amp at issue in which case, turn it off. Many amps have auto on/off functionality as well for distributed audio, or a 12v triggerable power function. Use it!

 

[CosmicOne]

My amp also (Yamaha RXV650) run hot while not in use & only powered on.

 

[Mr.T]

Any Amps (small) for home use or (large) sound systems are built with a low voltage relays in the power supply circuitry.This means you don't have to worry about the On/Off actions damaging any internal compononents, so it all boiles down to necessity to leave the Amp(s) On or not.

For instance in large venues sound systems like outdoor concerts, theaters, concert halls it is customary to turn the sound system On 4/5 hours prior to the beginning of the show, so that the sound techs can check and trim down controls for a flowless performance of the whole system and leave it On untill the show is over.

Mr.T

 

[slmcdonald7]

Could/should I just leave my Denon 3805 on all the time, or are av receivers inherently different than amplifiers in this regard?

Thanks,
Stephen

 

[BMXTRIX]

My amp also (Yamaha RXV650) run hot while not in use & only powered on.

That's not an amp - it's a complete A/V receiver.

I would never leave an A/V receiver on all the time. There are a lot of electronics within a receiver, especially Yamahas (and Denon as well) that are constantly in use when the receiver is on. You do not want those pieces running all the time and it will likely keep the unit warm and burn it out quicker.

Amplifiers - like the Sonance 1230 or 1250 or the Rotel RMB-1048 or RMB-1095 are more along the lines of what is being discussed.

I would definitely say that turning things off when they aren't in use, unless there is some problem waiting for it to turn on, or if it takes far to long for it to turn on, is the best choice.

I will be using 12v triggers to turn my amps on and off as that seems to be stable and provide accurate power control of the amp without my involvement.

 

[Mr.T]

Agree with BMX, shut it off when you're done using it.

Mr.T