Mike Reed
pfm Member
Anyone ever own a component without a power switch?
Funnily enough, yes; my latest purchase. It's a headphone amp. (Myryad), which, once you insert the live IEC plug, has only stand-by or on.
Anyone ever own a component without a power switch?
Anyone ever own a component without a power switch? And I don't mean it being mounted on the back with evil intent. No, I mean no power switch. I wrote a small manufacturer about this and he stated that the current drawn while not in use was negligible. I countered by saying that, yes, perhaps that's so, but the glow from the ridiculously bright power LED turned the box into an expensive night light. He then suggested a power strip, and jokingly said that the light being on should remind me to switch off the strip in event of a storm. I stared at that line in the email for a good half a minute before proclaiming it ludicrous. Interestingly, and I'm certain nothing to do with that exchange, all of his components were later adorned with a power switch. First on the back, then the front.
And probably turns off the main circuits with just a very small standby power supplyMy Cambridge CXU bluray player only has a standby switch
Something very wrong there, the 303 is a low idle current design and was often installed in a wood cabinet without much ventilation.My Quad 303 does not have a power switch
I turn it on&off on the wall, it gets quite hot upon the cooling fans, allmost like some valve designs - guess its normal, just owned it very short time
I don’t understand your reference to cooling fans, the 303 has none.
A little perspective: I spend a day a week running and demonstrating a period-correct replica of a 70 year old valve computer. A machine containing around 560 wartime-period valves and countless associated components that has been run several times a week for twenty years now. It does not catch fire!
Also, when was the last time anyone here went to a rock or blues gig that was stopped because the guitarist’s amp “caught fire”? You can rest assured anyone worth paying admission to see will be using valve amplification, and likely nice vintage kit too.
These things can happen, just as some solid state amps without adequate protection can ‘go DC’ on failure (and I know of one example that actually set someone’s speakers alight!), but it is again very uncommon.
It might be uncommon but when it happens in front of your own eyes in your own sitting room it is not easily forgotten!!!
The smell of burnt out electronics tends to linger in the room for quite some time after you have taken the wreck to be disposed of.
I have also had a computer PS catch fire at work after a power cut and the residual smell is quite similar and really unpleasant.
I suspect he means cooling fins.
My limited experience of quad 303s is as you say, they don`t get hot.
This is much less reassuring than you might think!/\ +1
The time that spectacular valve failure is most likely to happen is when you switch it on
I suspect he means cooling fins.
My limited experience of quad 303s is as you say, they don`t get hot.
Apologies, I meant fins
Quite warm over them and the block dividing them in the middle, perhaps transistors are in there ?
The amp is just back from a full service at Quad in UK
This is much less reassuring than you might think!
SAC Glowmaster 88
Destruction of one channel's printed circuit board - the amp had to be written off.
Never heard of it, but just googled and it looks to be made in Thailand and I can’t find a UK importer. Are you sure it was designed for UK 240V mains? A lot of grey-import stuff from the east is designed for 220V and will cook on UK mains.
I certainly don’t consider the countless stories of exploding eBay Ming Das etc to be any reflection on valve technology at all, more that using the correct mains transformer for the country’s mains is rather essential! 220V and 240V are two very different things.