From the 98 manual:
Power Switch
The power switch located at the far left on the SLP 98 front panel functions in the following manner: …
OFF Removes all AC voltages from the SLP 98 preamp deck. …
STAND-BY
Provides DC voltage through individual regulators to flow to the filaments of the preamplifier stage. (The SLP 98 may be left in the stand-by position at all times to keep the SLP 98 in a warmed-up, ready- to operate mode without B+ potential. Operating in this fashion gives peak performance after only a few minutes of operating time).
… OPERATE Brings up full potential DC voltage within one minute.
…
Sounds like standby applied power to the tubes but not full on? Someone else will be able to confirm.
I actually leave them on but will turn them off if I’m out of the house for a week or more. I don’t know if this is coincidence, but my P10 died in the middle of the night after 5 years of service (tried to reboot and would never finish the reboot) so I had to send it back to Boulder. So . . . I don’t know if my power cycling induced the failure or it just died on its own. Apparently the I/O circuitry died on the P10’s processor. It was weird when it failed at 2:30 AM: It just tried to restart and wouldn’t ever complete the reboot, no matter how many times I tried to recycle the power. We do have power glitches in our neighborhood during wind storms, so I have no idea if those were contributory to the problem or not. But it might be total coincidence that my power cycling affected the I/O circuit. Dunno. But it’s fixed now.
No I didn’t trade up to the P15 just yet, I had just bought the Iconoclast speaker and interconnect cables, so that blew my budget for the year. I did get an equivalent sonic upgrade with the new cables to what’s being reported with the P20 improvements, so I’m not unhappy with my decision to just fix the P10. But I can save the P20 for later after I get the AN2’s.
A few years ago, we lost power for about 5 days due to wind damage. However, I noticed that my system seemed to sound better after power was restored and given sufficient warm-up. Then I remember what the manual said about the clean wave in my power plant, that after a while a system can sound” stale”. The clean wave in my P5 is said to degauss magnetics. I keep my components on standby, but every so often I power the whole system off for a while and notice a bit more “sparkle” to the sound.
So, I have this hypothesis: the individual components (resistors, capacitors, etc.) in our electronics reach a steady state after a certain amount activation. However, they do not remain exactly at a steady state indefinitely. After weeks or months, they change in small ways. These small changes accumulate, and their combined effect is produce that “stale” sound. The effect of powering down the electronics is to permit those small changes to dissipate eliminate those small changes.
I can be totally wrong on this but I find it hard to believe that resistors, capacitors, transformers etc. can remain on for months or years and no change in any way.
Just go by the manual. I was reading thru the manual for a ss preamp that I bought for a second system. In it, the mfr. recommends that no critical listening be done until the unit has warmed up for 24 hours(!!) and that recommendation starts every time the unit is switched off. Since the unit draws only 25 watts, it’s not a big deal.
I find this happens too. I suspect it has to do with clocks, as the gear that in my experience seems to be affected are things like digital sources, DACs, and maybe even my P15s?
So I tend to re-boot everything roughly weekly, along with a P15 Cleanwave run.
We had a scheduled power outage of a few hours over night but it coincided with being away for 4 days. I’ve not had my entire system offline for a good while, not long enough to get cold anyway.
Today is day 4 since it’s been powered back on and playing nearly continuously and it’s just now beginning to sound back to normal to me.
I have the GCD and just got the S300; I was running a large old class A/B amp that once I turned on that day, it was on until I went to bed. Since getting the S300 I’ve left everything on (except the turntable) and it sounded pretty good, but after the 4th day (and a power cord upgrade) the amp sounded like a different animal - every song sounded better than I’d ever heard it, there seemed to be more of a separation and better focus of instruments, especially drums and cymbal hits and rides. Can’t determine if the days leaving it on or the power cord upgrade made the difference (or if it was just my imagination), but the whole system seemed to open up.
Since our electric supply comes into the house from above-ground poles, I unplug everything if I go on a vacation or if there’s a thunderstorm coming. I personally know a couple of people who have had their TV’s and other appliances fried in our area from lightning strikes.
I have to try this, but am also concerned about power outages potentially damaging the SGCD and M700 monoblocks. Am I being over-cautious? Or is there something else that can alleviate those concerns (other than turning off the output power)?
That phasing is like saying that some auto engines are gas guzzlers because they aren’t efficient just after starting. There’s nothing strange about components needing to near thermal equilibrium before they fully meet their specs, e.g. clocks, resistors, etc. Personally I don’t care about the differences between my equipment cold or nominal, but it’s there. Some components are revealing enough to hear such differences and some are not
If it’s not audible then I wouldn’t consider it distortion. I had a Bryston amp on trial a few years ago and for half an hour or more from cold it sounded like my head was in a bucket. For decades Quad amps didn’t need a standby function because they didn’t need to warm up.
I find it odd that any manufacturer could make a product that needs 30 minutes warning to work, and then I remember I have to wait 10 minutes for my coffee machine to brew.
I agree that half an hour with that big of a difference is annoying. A surprising thing to me was that some Oppo Blu-ray players have a clock that’s further than 100ppm from nominal for something like 10 or 20 minutes as it warms up. I had to add a feature to the DS to track and play things that were that far off.
Minor update. SGCD and M700’s had been turned off and unplugged for a week. Upon first listen after that timeout, sound was not as good as before. I connected them into the system, plugged them in, turned the back switch on but kept the front blue lights off for 2 days. The sound improved after 48 hours. I then had both pre and power amps on continuously for 24 hours and the sound has improved some more. The main difference that I can hear is the midrange has opened up and is smoother, with Anne Bisson’s voice, for instance, becoming more delicate, more refined.
I leave all my PSA gear on all the time except the BHK preamps which I leave on standby just to keep time off the tubes.
I have a Harmon Kardon AVR that has been on continuously (except for power outages) for 15 years. Still works fine. @tarheelneil You need to have some grey whiskers to know about leather pitcher pump seals
