I almost always left my class AB amps on all the time; they certainly sounded better after several hours, and didn’t use much power at idle. Throw in the oft stated wisdom that the turn on/off cycles were detrimental, and the choice was easy.
Now I use a Class A integrated; it sounds great after 15 minutes of being on, but as you know, they are always drawing pretty much full power. And it gets and stays hot- not crazy hot by any means, but mighty warm. I no longer leave it on 24/7, but wonder how the heat and design affect the longevity of the amp.
The question is this- if I know I’ll be listening again in 2,3,4 hours or so, should I leave it on, or turn it off. I guess I am wondering which does more damage: the on/off cycles, or the heat from the always on class A transistors.
No, I’m not losing any sleep over this, but I wonder if there is any accepted wisdom regarding this slightly different beast.
Thanks.