Turning on tube amp: leave standby switch on or wait?

[crochambeau]

i'm also in the same camp as rfurtkamp and resin cum, no way in hell amp i'm just turning on a vintage amp with(OUT) warming it up. as for shutting it off just do warm up process but in reverse.

I think that edit I punched on your statement is in line with what you said?

Regarding VINTAGE amplifiers, this is absolutely correct. I also operate standby if available (though I don't worry as much about shutting it down), though I'm trying to think of an amplifier I own that has a standby & tube rectification and I'm drawing a blank.

The potential issue, as I see it, AND I MAY VERY WELL BE CHASING SHADOW PUPPETS, involves modern builders or modifiers. There is an AWFUL lot of aping going on in the electronics industry, and sometimes designs are not exactly plotted from the desk of an EE... so, when you get a marketing driven (or otherwise poorly thought out) product it is highly possible that someone could design or modify an amplifier that is tube rectified (because the spirits of tone told me to) with way too much capacity available for ripple filtering the power supply (because more filtering equates to cleaner power, maaaaaan; just ask an internet audiophile) that carries a standby switch because it is standard you could have the beginnings of a recipe for failure.

Obviously, the above paranoia does not apply to many. But I've seen some frightful shit passed off as "knowledge" and because that pool is polluted I have a hard time sticking my THIS IS THE ONLY WAY IT IS DONE brand sticker of approval on anything any more.

[rfurtkamp]

Shutting it down is simply so I don't have to double-check when I turn it on more than anything.

[waltdogg]

lol yes.

[rfurtkamp]

I also think of the old Batmobile warmup sequence.

But I am also secretly still eight. With drugs and machineguns.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBe3QzVW5_8[/youtube]

[waltdogg]

oh and my buddy had an Orange AD30, those are tube rectified and have a standby switch. so they exist lol.

[repoman]

oh and my buddy had an Orange AD30, those are tube rectified and have a standby switch. so they exist lol.

My DRRI is tube rectified and has standby....but the original deluxes had tube rectifiers a didn't nostandby. Some of my vintage amps have no tube rectifier and no standby.

That wampler article seems to point to the standby's original function was a safety measure for amp technicians.

[Hypnodrone]

My old Orange OR200 had to get a standby switch installed. Tubes were hit with 900V so it ate KT88's like crazy. Low watt amps should not have that problem. My 63 Dynacord has some sort of delayed power up function. Takes 30 secs preheating before any sound comes through.

[crochambeau]

My 63 Dynacord has some sort of delayed power up function. Takes 30 secs preheating before any sound comes through.

My same era EICO HF-87 had a bimetal switch (when stock) so when you turned it on cold there was a big fat resistor in the way, meanwhile AC was heating up the bimetal switch (and something like half volting the entire amp) until the switched warmed up enough to close, then full power. Sort of an automated half stand-by.

[rustywire]

I have a ss-rectified SF Quad Reverb from the 70s w/standby switch. I keep [standby] ON when powering on/off.
I have a gz34 tube-rectified Selmer from the 60s. No standby, non-master volume.
Also 2 other similar gz34-rectified amps, no standby. The Altec has MV.

Regardless of amp, I always keep volume/gain pots parked at the minimum/ccw setting in power-on cycles; and also when the amp is not in use.
I always allow 20min or more of idle time between powering-on & touching any knob. I try to avoid leaving an amp on in standby for any extended period of time, following the warm-up.

The theory is everything operates most efficiently, consistently after settling into a stable "warmed up" temperature. Tubes, diodes, caps, transformers etc. It's like an athlete stretching before physical exertion. It helps to prevent injury, minimize entropy.
Using some kind of voltage regulator/variac can also be a gamechanger if you live in/around a major metropolitan area.

I prefer the sound & use of period-correct glass inside my amps...which cost more but provide longer life than the new production stuff...at least for me...by practicing the above mentioned theory and a few other geeky rituals

[sylnau]

After powering up the amp, I leave it in standby while the tubes warm up.

Then I leave it on standby a few minutes before I turn the power off.

[blakestree]

That's interesting. I never thought about putting an amp in standby before powering down. I just flip both switches when turning off, that way it is already in standby when I flip the power on. Is there some bleed off that occurs by putting it in standby before shutting down?