What is better for my receiver?

[derekwwww]

Say if someone is going to be turning their receiver on and off 5-10 times a day would it be better to just keep it on all the time rather the keep shutting it off and turning it on? My computer I leave on all day for this reason.

Thanks

 

[BMXTRIX]

I would say - yes. The same reason you leave your PC on. The startup procedure on electronics is one of the hardest things for it to do. Many electronics, like cable boxes, simply blank the screen when you press the power button, they never actually turn off.

If there is no volume (MUTE) going through the speakers, you should not really have any additional wear and tear on your A/V receiver either.

 

[zumbo]

Another vote for YES!

 

[derekwwww]

Ok thanks! Another Q... if when I'm not using it, and I turn the volume all the way down, is it ok to put my plastic dust cover over it? Since it shouldnt get warm with nothing playing?

Thanks

 

[zumbo]

NO!

 

[derekwwww]

Ok I'll leave it off. Another question, should I put it in pure direct when i leave it on not using it so I dont burn out the display lights?

 

[zumbo]

Sounds like a good idea to me.

 

[Francious70]

Most electronics when shutdown go into "standby" mode which is where they are still turned on, they just consume verly little power. Just enough to keep to electricity going thru the circuits.

Paul

 

[BMXTRIX]

This is true, except amplifiers discharge their power. This means the startup/shut down cycle for them is very hard on them. Like a plasma, the startup is the time when power flows to light the display for the first time.

VCRs, DVD players, cable and sat boxes, they all use a tiny bit more power when on vs. off.

TVs, plasma, LCD, CRT, projectors, amplifiers all use a TON more power and the initial draw of power is very significant. Those are products that should not be power cycled more than necessary and on/off cycles should be considered if it will be more than average.

 

[crashguy]

I vote for turning it off. With solid state electronics, there's no need to leave them on. I have heard of this when using tube amps, but not with solid state stuff.

You gotta think the manufacturers know these things are going to go through the power up/down cycle many times, and design them for this.

 

[dohanc]

I also vote for turning it off. One thing to think about is the heat dissipation of it even at an idle state (no input but electronics on). I have an amp and one of the things I don't like about it is it gets warm, not hot, but warm enough to heat up the room a degree with no ventilation. That is even with no input signal to be amplified. I would assume a better amp would be more efficient in this respect. This obviously is using quite a bit of power to be doing nothing.

Turning components on and off has its pros and cons. I killed a receiver once and the failure was a relay and resistor that was charging the power supply caps. It seems the circuitry was not designed well enough. I understand that you would rather not kill your receiver only because the circuit wasn't designed correctly, however if 99% of other users are not complaining of a similiar problem you should have no reason to expect one.

 

[Ryo_Ohki2]

I don't think it's a good idea to cover it when leaving it on (assuming you go that route) unless the receiver stays cool without fresh air flow. If you had a RX-Z9 you would probably overheat the unit.. especially if you forget to uncover it when playing it again.

 

[Votrax]

If you're going to use your receiver off and on during the day just leave it on and then turn it off when you retire for the night. Definitely don't put a cover on it when it's on. Though the volume is down the output transistors have a small amount of bias current thus creating a small amount of heat.