What order should you turn on your Hi-Fi seperates?

[lastcoyote]

Hi people,

Can some tell me the best/correct order that Hi-Fi seperates should be turned on in a system?

I think it's something like:

Pre-Amp
Power Amp(s)
Source Unit(s)

I'm pretty sure about the amps order but not sure if the Source units such as a CD player should be turned on before the pre and power amps or afterwards/lastly as I have shown above?

Anyone?

 

[nads]

does it matter?

whatever buttons get pressed first.

 

[Anonymous]

Ive always went

source-> pre -> power.

I was told that if you put the amps on first your source could make some sort of electrical surge/noise which could cause damage.

Whether there is any truth in this I have no idea but ive never had any problems with this way. I also switch off in reverse order.

 

[Ronald Archiebald]

LastCoyote.

Is this suppossed to make any difference at all? And people keep thinking that mains cables don't make a difference!

Ronald

 

[Anonymous]

It's from a safety point of view. Nothing to do with sound quality.

Arcam says in their manuals that you should always let your preamp power up fully before switching the power amp on. There must be some reason for this.

 

[007L2Thrill]

bobbyg81:

Arcam says in their manuals that you should always let your preamp power up fully before switching the power amp on. There must be some reason for this.

Quite right, so you do not blow your speakers, as if there was no input to the power amp and it's fully powered up then you suddenly turn on your pre amp there will be a power surge from pre amp to the power amp, then pop goes the speaker.

lastcoyote, what bobboyg81 said is correct, turn on source first followed by pre-amp then power amp last.

 

[the record spot]

Hmmm, I think I usually turn on the amp first, but only as the protection circuits takes a few seconds to come online. Pretty much always with the speaker selector set to "off" and while it's doing this, the CD player gets switched on. Once the protection check's done and the power light is stable, I switch over to the selected speakers and we're away.

 

[mitch65]

I turn on my Uniti first then...............oh! that's it, no issues there then

 

[Anonymous]

Always amp last.

At least, that's what the instruction manuals said for my last three, for the reason Bobby 81 gives.

 

[Big Chris]

I leave my amp & CD on 24/7 unless going on holiday.

 

[Anonymous]

Moon say CD then amp, but I've sometimes done it the wrong way round and the world hasn't ended.

 

[Anonymous]

i allways phone the national grid and let them know first! then i would turn on pre,source, power

 

[lastcoyote]

bobbyg81:

It's from a safety point of view. Nothing to do with sound quality.

Arcam says in their manuals that you should always let your preamp power up fully before switching the power amp on. There must be some reason for this.

exactly, i was speaking from a safety point of view.

thanks for clearing that up for us guys. i was 99% about it being pre then power and that to do it in reverse when switching everything off, just couldn't remember about the source whether it was source on first or last thing.

ON: SOURCE | PRE | POWER
OFF: POWER | PRE | SOURCE

cheers guys.

 

[Anonymous]

Nice and warm but think about sustainability

.

 

[Thaiman]

Pre should always turn on first, doesn't matter which order between sorce and power.

 

[lastcoyote]

Big Chris:I leave my amp & CD on 24/7 unless going on holiday.

oh yeah mine stays on all the time too.

but as you say things like holidays, moving equipment about, cable upgrades and the like require a switch off.

 

[the record spot]

Just check the power requirements of your amps - mine's a hungry 700+ watts off the wall socket, so leaving that on all the time's probably not the best. If it's on, it's working, if it's not being used, it's going off. Hell, it's 33 years old, so running in's not going to be an issue!

 

[lastcoyote]

depends on your equipment. my musical fidelity stuff is.. according to them.. designed to be left on all the time.

 

[Anonymous]

maybe MF have shares in the national grid...or no social conscience

 

[Anonymous]

Not quite. RS has a class A amp by the sound of it which effectively runs full on even when idle, which is why it uses so much power. Class AB amps do not do so, so even if left on, and not in standby they use very little power - Naim, for example, use next to nothing when left on.

That said, even standby mode uses power, so turning off at the mains is the only sure way to save on your bill and also help the environment.

 

[lastcoyote]

Tarquinh:

Not quite. RS has a class A amp by the sound of it which effectively runs full on even when idle, which is why it uses so much power. Class AB amps do not do so, so even if left on, and not in standby they use very little power - Naim, for example, use next to nothing when left on.

That said, even standby mode uses power, so turning off at the mains is the only sure way to save on your bill and also help the environment.

yep, what he said ^

 

[the record spot]

The Sansui AU-717 isn't a Class A design. It is, however, a dual mono design from 1977 with two decent sized power transformers and two hefty heatsinks therein.

 

[Anonymous]

the record spot:The Sansui AU-717 isn't a Class A design. It is, however, a dual mono design from 1977 with two decent sized power transformers and two hefty heatsinks therein.Ah. Then I think the figure you quote is maximum power consumption, not that on idle.

 

[the record spot]

It's what's on the back of the case. I never claimed to be an electrician. So shoot me.

 

[Anonymous]

the record spot:It's what's on the back of the case. I never claimed to be an electrician. So shoot me.No, I may have a caustic tongue but I'm a firm believer in non violence

. Some specs (but not the ones on idle) to be found at http://www.sansui.us/images/Manuals/au717_spec.JPG