Do you turn on or off?

I only switch off when away on holiday, if you are away for two weeks I would say "off"

So would I. 

OFF !

Steve GTX posted:

I'm just about to take a trip to France..... before the borders close and my supply of red wine dries up.

I'm going to be away for two weeks (so if you are going to burgle my place, now is a good time to do it!) but should I leave all my audio kit turned on or off?

Generally, SWIMBO unplugs everything before we go away.

Well if you are travelling by car or van, you could kill 2 birds with one stone.

Take your whole system with you with a generator (of course) and then you can leave your system powered up and avoid it getting stolen

I always turn off when away for more than a few days.  I've found it does the hifi SQ no harm - if anything it seems better for it once its warmed up.  Then when back home turn it all on (don't forget the right order)  unpack the going away stuff, put the coffee on, sit back & soak up the sounds.   Looking at the weather forecast for the next few days in SE UK I might be tempted to switch off at bedtime tonite - I've been bitten hard in the past & once bitten  etc ...

For that amount of time I would switch off and I have also found that either the kit or my ears benefit after a week or two away/switched off

Thanks Guys but why does posting a question always raise another?

My question was initiated by Mike-B's comments.......what is the "right order" to power up?

Steve

Eazyrider, it is a very good idea and I would do that, if I did not have the grand piano to fit in the motor-home!

I would also say switch off....because your gear will be nice and cool when we come to burgle you.....Have a nice holiday by the way 

dayjay posted:

For that amount of time I would switch off and I have also found that either the kit or my ears benefit after a week or two away/switched off

I agree which makes me question the ''powered up all the time'' theory.

Could be the ears too. Like anything else (bacon cheeseburgers, TV, booze, sex, etc) taking a break might make you appreciate your gear/music more. Last year I was hospitalized for 4 days. Kept quiet on morphine most of the time. When I got home and began listening to music I couldn't believe how good everything sounded. I mean really good. Was it being kept in a quiet environment, was it the narcotics or was it the positive psychological effects of being glad to be alive and back home enjoying life again. 

Anyhow...I guess you need to use common sense with these things. Besides the obvious thunderstorm risks there are other situations where powering down might be a good idea. If you only listen on weekends maybe better to turn it off during the week. If it's during a massive heat wave and you have multiple boxes (Naim or non Naim) each generating small amounts of heat then maybe better to turn off while not in use.

Steve GTX posted:

My question was initiated by Mike-B's comments.......what is the "right order" to power up?

Lots of forum posts on this,  FAQ & search is your friend.  However to make life easy I don't mind telling you,  but I don't know what bits make up your system,  you don't show anything in your  profile.     If its a one box unit,  I'll leave you to work that out.  If its more than one box the main thing is get the power amp OFF first & ON last,  this avoids a thump or worse from the speakers

Power off (just as important)  - power amp > preamp > source(s)

Power up - Source(s) > preamp > power amp

I'd certainly turn it off, and I'd also unplug it.

Correct order for turn-on, IIRC, is to follow the signal - source, pre, power. 

Kept on and with volume turned up to maximum. Come back, shove every thing out windows. Enjoy post stress holiday jive with maximum fidelity.... Then back to work with big lump in trousers.

eazyryder posted:

Steve GTX posted:

I'm just about to take a trip to France..... before the borders close and my supply of red wine dries up.

I'm going to be away for two weeks (so if you are going to burgle my place, now is a good time to do it!) but should I leave all my audio kit turned on or off?

Generally, SWIMBO unplugs everything before we go away.

Well if you are travelling by car or van, you could kill 2 birds with one stone.

Take your whole system with you with a generator (of course) and then you can leave your system powered up and avoid it getting stolen

Just plug it into the cigarette lighter.

I'm turned on by this thread...

I turn it on - it's too quiet to hear the music when it's turned off.  

You'd need to keep the volume at No 11 to hear it from France I guess...... Oh?...you don't have No. 11 volume? Well I believe there's a POT11 upgrade coming soon....

What's the address again?

Off - two weeks is too high a risk for thunderstorms...

I think 30 seconds might've been a bit risky last night in some parts ..... 

I'm lucky, I have lower than average risk of damage from lightning strikes.  There is a very large conduit behind my house; it's about 6m below ground level, more than 1km long, about 400m wide, and it's used for the main distribution cables for both electricity and telephone.  This substantially reduces the risk of damaging impulses because the cables are much less likely to get struck.

Oh yes it was dug rather a long time ago, somewhere between the Restoration and the Georgian periods.

Don't get too complacent Huge,  lightning 'leccy doesn't seem to know anything about ohms law.    I was once working on a big 3 phase all metal fusebox & alongside it was its cast alloy isolation switch;  they were connected together with a 4 inch earth bonded conduit & separate parallel earth strap.  A storm was crashing around & we had a very near or direct strike,  an arch shot from the top corner if the iso-switch to the fusebox - completely ignoring the earth strap & conduit path.

More anorak info - electrical breakdown of dry air is aprx 3,000,000 volt/m, the atmospheric variables in a storm does lower the potential somewhat.  The estimated peak power in a lightning strike is 1,000GW;  to get that in proportion, UK electricity demand in winter is around 50GW  (Statement amps, puny power puffs)

Hi Mike, I'm sure it didn't ignore the earth strap & conduit I'm sure it used them as well as the ionised corridor in the air

My situation doesn't eliminate the possibility of a strike induced impulse, just reduces it.  The sheer voltage and current levels involved in a lightning strike can overwhelm the screening from 6m of damp rock overlying several meters of air, but it's still more likely to disperse sideways through the ground than into the cables below.

I've also experienced an exploding printer when a network cable between buildings was struck.  I was looking right at the printer and the flash caused a temporary blind spot on my retina that lasted for several minutes.  The cost in fried equipment wasn't so temporary!

I was running around at three o'clock this morning, pulling out umpteen plugs as a large thunderstorm rumbled away. By the time I got back to bed the damn thing had gone elsewhere.

If I'm away for more than a couple of days everything gets switched off and generally unplugged. Can't say I've noticed any reduction in sound quality after a half-hour's warm up.

Huge posted:

Hi Mike, I'm sure it didn't ignore the earth strap & conduit I'm sure it used them as well as the ionised corridor in the air

Indeed,  it also didn't ignore my hair either.       

Me neither