On Wed, 4 Aug 2004 14:49:18 +0100, "Keith G"
wrote:


"Stewart Pinkerton" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 04 Aug 2004 01:39:29 GMT, "Trevor Wilson"
wrote:


"StaffBull" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the helpful comments below - another question I have is if
I
would leave a valve amp on all the time or switch it off and have to
wait
for it to warm up every time I need it?

**ALL power amps should be switched off, until they are required for use.

Hooey.

Not hooey - all electrical items (without a built in timer needing stanby
current) should be switched off if not in use, including amplifiers. (Ask
your insurers.....)

Insurers are concerned with fire risk, not capacitor failure. This is
a vexed question among audiophiles, for some mysterious reason, but
out in the real world of industrial electronics, most equipment is
kept permanently powered up. Anything with a valve in it (including
CRTs) shouldn't be permanently powered up, but that's virtually no
real-world equipment nowadays, aside from some radio transmitters.

So, the original poster should switch off his valve amp, but we
sensible folk can leave our class AB SS amps permanently switched on.


My Audiolab 8000P has been switched on for about eight years, and
works just fine. I don't leave the Krell switched on, because it's a
true class A design, and pulls 300 watts from the wall at idle!

Presumably the Krell doesn't suffer from being switched off then? Or does it
take that bit longer to strike an arc.....???

It's been working happily for about fifteen years, but it pretty much
*defines* overengineering! For instance, it's only rated at 50 watts
into 8 ohms, but it delivers 195 watts continuous into 4 ohms, both
channels driven. Basically, I'm just too mean to pay the bill for a
constant 300 watt drain! Naturally, the excess heat isn't a problem in
the UK.....................
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering