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  1. #1
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    Standby or leave power on?

    Soon I will be receiving a Musical Fidelity A5. It does not have remote on/off capability. I am very used to turning my equipment on and off with a remote. I'm sure I can get used to doing it manually, however i've heard different opinions on whether it's better to leave an amp on all the time, or leaving it in standby when not in use. Would it be alright to leave the A5 on all the time?

  2. #2
    Super Moderator Site Moderator JohnMichael's Avatar
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    I have been told that powering up an amp puts stress on the components with solid state equipment. I keep my Krell S-300i either on or standby and I never reach around and turn it off completely. Now if I am going to be away for awhile I do turn off and unplug. No real reason just feel better doing it. I am sure a well designed product from Musical Fidelity would be fine to leave on or standby. You may have a slight increase in your electrical bill.
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  3. #3
    Vinyl Fundamentalist Forums Moderator poppachubby's Avatar
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    For the cost of hydro, why bother? I say turn it off. Unless there's some undisputed proof that there's a huge benefit to the amp, personally, I can't see it.

    BTW, John Michael is part of the elite audio cult known as "SoundMind". Their leader believes in demagnetizing vinyl, that's enough reason for me to shut the power off. Here he is, in the following picture:


  4. #4
    Phila combat zone JoeE SP9's Avatar
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    Gear with remote on is never fully turned off unless you use the switch in the back. In that case the remote doesn't work. I leave most low/small signal gear on almost all the time. It would shorten the life of power output tubes drastically if they were on all the time.

    Power amps that are full Class A or heavily biased into Class A will suck current out of the wall like a fire hose. The higher the Class A power the bigger the hose.
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  5. #5
    Phila combat zone JoeE SP9's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by poppachubby
    For the cost of hydro, why bother? I say turn it off. Unless there's some undisputed proof that there's a huge benefit to the amp, personally, I can't see it.

    BTW, John Michael is part of the elite audio cult known as "SoundMind". Their leader believes in demagnetizing vinyl, that's enough reason for me to shut the power off. Here he is, in the following picture:

    That's not Michael Fremer!!! Mikey is the great Guru of vinyl. He is a believer in the demag of vinyl. I'm inclined to listen to his arguments.

    I guess I belong to the same cult.
    ARC SP9 MKIII, VPI HW19, Rega RB300
    Marcof PPA1, Shure, Sumiko, Ortofon carts, Yamaha DVD-S1800
    Behringer UCA222, Emotiva XDA-2, HiFimeDIY
    Accuphase T101, Teac V-7010, Nak ZX-7. LX-5, Behringer DSP1124P
    Front: Magnepan 1.7, DBX 223SX, 2 modified Dynaco MK3's, 2, 12" DIY TL subs (Pass El-Pipe-O) 2 bridged Crown XLS-402
    Rear/HT: Emotiva UMC200, Acoustat Model 1/SPW-1, Behringer CX2310, 2 Adcom GFA-545

  6. #6
    Sophisticated Red Neck manlystanley's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by poppachubby
    For the cost of hydro, why bother? I say turn it off. Unless there's some undisputed proof that there's a huge benefit to the amp, personally, I can't see it.

    BTW, John Michael is part of the elite audio cult known as "SoundMind". Their leader believes in demagnetizing vinyl, that's enough reason for me to shut the power off. Here he is, in the following picture:

    I should have known! They also believe that Barny on PBS is giving secret coded messages that only the knowledgeable ones can deceiver. So, taking there guidance from this evil dinosaur they will soon be controlling all of us. Ekkk..... I'm going to go up to the roof and jump off while I have a chance..... Um... Will my headphone cord reach that far????.


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  7. #7
    Shostakovich fan Feanor's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jason L.
    Soon I will be receiving a Musical Fidelity A5. It does not have remote on/off capability. I am very used to turning my equipment on and off with a remote. I'm sure I can get used to doing it manually, however i've heard different opinions on whether it's better to leave an amp on all the time, or leaving it in standby when not in use. Would it be alright to leave the A5 on all the time?
    I won't give a recommentation on the A5, but will talk about my equipment and what I do with it.

    My preamp is a Sonic Frontiers LINE 1 that runs with six 6922 tubes. It would use significant power and very significantly reduce the tube life if these were left powered on all the time. However the LINE 1 has a stand-by setting the keeps the tubes a slightly warm with a low voltage. This reduces the "shock" of turning the tubes on/off and reduces the warm-up time for optimum sound. I normally leave the unit on stand-by but follow SF's recommendation to power right off it I won't be using it for more than a couple of days.

    My Monarchy SM-70 Pro amps are high 'A' bias and remain noticeably warm when not playing music. They have no stand-by mode, accordingly I power them off when not listening.

    But note that I leave both preamp and power amps fully powered-on when I'm not listening for a short period of time, say 1 hour or less.

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