Care and best use of expensive sound equipment.

Posted by: MusicRoom on 16 January 2016

Here’s something that I have been agonising over for many years and, despite having asked various people/authorities, have never really had a definitive answer.

Forgetting the issue of economy/global warming etc. (which I don’t I hasten to add), should sound equipment be left on all the time?

Obviously if you go away on holiday etc. the answer there may be considered obvious but . . . .

This goes back a long way and I have asked many, many people over the years. I have a digital clock, watch, iPhone. I have a fridge, electric cooker, electric garage door; the list could continue. None of which I ever isolate from the mains. What of hifi? I cannot get over the gut feeling that if it is left on . . . . forever, it will deteriorate.

What do people think?

Posted on: 16 January 2016 by james n

I don't think you'll get any definitive answer - worth searching back through the forum on this topic if you want to suss out what's best for you and your circumstances.

Simple answer - If you own Naim then they recommend leaving it on 24/7. Just turn it off if you go on holiday as you would with most electrical equipment.

Simple

Posted on: 16 January 2016 by osprey

The consensus on these forums seems to be leave them on …

Posted on: 16 January 2016 by Gianluigi Mazzorana

Posted on: 16 January 2016 by Huge

Yes

If you leave it on, it will deteriorate.

If you turn it off, it will deteriorate.

Life sucks.

Posted on: 16 January 2016 by David Hendon

I would leave it on. It is designed to be left on (except during "electrical storms") and it's the switch-on which stresses electronics most. Also that way it is at its best when you want to listen to it.

Posted on: 17 January 2016 by Massimo Bertola

Huge posted:
Yes
If you leave it on, it will deteriorate.
If you turn it off, it will deteriorate.
Life sucks.

Life ends. Most Naim gear will outlive its owners.

Posted on: 17 January 2016 by Harty601

I've worked in a number of post production facilities over the years. One company had a policy of switching off all hardware everynight in the machine rooms - all the VTRs, edit controllers, routers, monitors etc. Almost every morning, one piece of kit somewhere would suffer a power supply failure and need to be taken out of service to be fixed.

Other companies I worked for left kit on 24/7 (because of this issue above) and seemed to suffer far less from power supply failures.

I've always left my kit on (apart from holidays or thunderstorms) and did not have a single issue in 7 years of owning a SN1, HC & CDX2.

Posted on: 17 January 2016 by Adam Zielinski

+1 for Harty601.

Just shut it down when you go on holidays. Otherwise keep your NAIMs nice and warm, ready for playing some wonderful music.

Enjoy the sound of it and don't stress too much about the on/off dilema. There are other, more important issues in life to worry about.

Posted on: 17 January 2016 by MusicRoom

Thanks folks, for some interesting replies. I can safely say that I have now made a lasting decision; it's all staying on!

I particularly liked the reply from Harty601 where he had first hand experience of component failure when switching things on and off repeatedly. I've heard many times before that this is likely but he is the first who has actually reported it happening. Good stuff!

Posted on: 17 January 2016 by Jack911

Don't forget that there is a recommended sequence for power on and off which you should follow.

Posted on: 17 January 2016 by Innocent Bystander

Clearly not relevant to Naim power amps, but for anyone running class A power amps turning off makes a big difference to electricity bill... and valve amps are possibly best turned off when not in use as valve filament life is likely to be iproportional to number of hours use, though that will need to be factored against the effect of inrush current on switch on unless the power supply is 'soft start'.