I have an early 98 model, still running perfect to this day, and I can attest to never turning it off for the years I've owned it. It's been used, every day the television has been turned on.
Sound quality is awesome, and people still compliment my nice audio system. (Sony STR-DE515 reciever, Velodyne CT-80, and Bose surround speakers)
Hope this helps, I just ran across this thread in google, no clue as to when it was originally started.
Ryan