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Rega Brio (2017) - Leave on or turn off?

That's been a legal requirement for any non-networked device sold in Europe for the last 10 years or so - a standby mode that draws 0.5 watts or less. But add up all the billions of devices drawing that load and it's significant. Leave devices switched on when not in use and it's even more significant. We no longer live in a world where people can be sanguine about the environmental effects of this. It's simply unacceptable behaviour.
 
Naim have made their service department a profit centre. Compare Naim service charges with Quad

It always was when I worked there, but to be honest not much work passed through, very stable kit, and a great bunch of people to work with. I wish I could go back and do it all again.
 
My Hegel has an 'Eco' option (which differs from standby on most other amplifiers).

Using this leaves most of the Amplifier still switched on, you can see the green circuit board diodes on and the top casing is still (slightly) warm. In fact it differs little from leaving it on.

I can't quite see the point of this so I tend to switch it off completely when not using it.

With the others I just use standby unless I am away for a time.
 
That's been a legal requirement for any non-networked device sold in Europe for the last 10 years or so - a standby mode that draws 0.5 watts or less
I have two satellite decoders and just taken the 2nd off subscription as I no longer need it. Out of interest I measured the power consumption and it is always close to 15W running or in standby. That works out as about £1 a month just for electricity.
 
Some classic equipment like Naim and Quad was designed and sold long before the modern fire safety regulations came into force. The consequences of this can be seen in standard faults like the notorious Quad AC filter capacitor and the Naim display backlight.

That’s a bit unfair on Quad. As I understand it there was a batch of bad 2000uF electrolytic caps in the early years of the 303 (the blue ones) that leaked if the amp was absolutely hammered in use or installed without adequate ventilation. The 303 is in most scenarios a cold-running amp, mine never get above room temperature. These particular caps couldn’t cope with thermal cycling so did tend to expand and contract under hard use conditions and leaked. Quad suggested flipping the caps so the terminals were on top, but really the issue was these specific caps. The ‘terminals down’ position is standard in the overwhelming majority of electronic kit as that’s how you mount stuff to a PCB. As an example the very hot running Pass Aleph 3 class A amp I’ve just serviced has the caps this way up, and they get cooked in there in a way no 303 or 50E would get close to. As to Quad reliability many unserviced 303s are still working to this day, plus London Underground used vast numbers of 50Es for station announcements that ran 24/7 for decades.

FWIW I don’t see how any solid state Quad or Naim could be viewed as a fire risk. Both have heavy mains-earthed casing and there is nothing to burn. They have to be exponentially safer than the typical cheap plastic wall-wart PSUs etc widely used today that obviously pass current fire regs.
 
Tony saying that I had bunch 100uF/100V from Elna?? that all went bang at 35VDC, and a few 10,000uF/50V from Nichicon that also went bang. Changed them for Noyer and no problems.
 
Leaving equipment On was an idea sponsored by marketing departments who wanted to see you a replacement when it blew up after a few years
If that’s true, the marketing company failed miserably because my amps have yet to fail in the 21 plus years I’ve had them switched on!
 
If that’s true, the marketing company failed miserably because my amps have yet to fail in the 21 plus years I’ve had them switched on!

Have you done even the most cursory visual inspection, let alone testing? Chances of the electrolytic capacitors still being on spec after 183,960 hours run time (not counting leap-years) is basically zero. You may not have noticed such a gradual performance decline, but it will have happened for sure.
 
I am doing an experiment with my brio and naim 42/140 by leaving both on for a week and see how things progress. The naim definitely sounds better after 3 days. The brio i'm not as sure about any changes.
 
Most of our homes use a fair amount of electricity 24/7 due to things like fridges/freezers, routers, boilers and numerous other things. A good way to mitigate this is to either go onto a green tariff, then your power supply company will generate enough power from renewables to cover your usage. Another way is to install solar cells and currently, the payback period is somewhat reduced due to price rises. Both routes will allow you to approach or go beyond net zero CO2 usage for electricity.
 
Most of our homes use a fair amount of electricity 24/7 due to things like fridges/freezers, routers, boilers and numerous other things. A good way to mitigate this is to either go onto a green tariff, then your power supply company will generate enough power from renewables to cover your usage. Another way is to install solar cells and currently, the payback period is somewhat reduced due to price rises. Both routes will allow you to approach or go beyond net zero CO2 usage for electricity.
That's not a major issue where I live. We are mostly hydro and nuclear powered here.
 
I think in todays climate and with today's prices one should leave every electrical device on 24/7. The only thing I turn off when not in use is the fridge.
 
That's not a major issue where I live. We are mostly hydro and nuclear powered here.
You really should read up on our Canadian nuclear power industry and its effects upon the environment. Best to avoid anything published by the nuclear industry itself.

I am doing an experiment with my brio and naim 42/140 by leaving both on for a week and see how things progress. The naim definitely sounds better after 3 days. The brio i'm not as sure about any changes.
Any solid state amp that takes 3 days to 'come on song' has either just been taken out of very long-term storage and/or, likely as not, is in need of a service. This is the Naim conundrum, a hi-fi enigma stored within an alloy sleeved paradox.

Yes, leave our amps on 24/7 for best performance at all times; just don't be surprised when the power supply capacitors lose the ability to charge themselves to anything like original spec. Thankfully, you won't notice this until you turn your amps off, which, of course, you shouldn't do; just plan on sending them in for a service every 10 years max.
 


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