Do you leave your amps on?

[1rsw]

I finally did get a pair of DMA 360's. These are series 1 and I still plan to move to the series 2 as soon as I can find a used pair. That is proving to be a task requiring patience!

I have been leaving them on and noticed the top rear and heat sinks are pretty darn hot and that led me to wonder if I should be turning them off when not in use. My previous amp liked to be left on or it took hours to sound it's best so that is what I am accustomed to. Being a unique design, I wondered what other Spectral owners did. Do you keep your amps on or turn them off when not in use?

They sound wonderful. Much more body and headroom than the 180. I still would like more authority and maybe a little more body in the mids but still beautiful amps. I am running them direct through my Alpha DAC, cables are MIT Oracle Matrix.

PS: if anyone has a pdf of a 360 manual I'd love a copy!

 

[ack]

I have found that all my Spectral amps required at least an hour of warm-up to sound their best; the manual claims 10 minutes but I never found it to be true. I never leave them on all the time though...

 

[mimesis]

Only when I listen.

 

[mullard88]

Hi 1rsw,

I only turn on my amps only when I want to listen. I turn them on and play a cd just before I have my meal, then return after the meal to listen. They take about an hour for the sound to settle in. After listening, I immediately turn off the amps.

Like you, I run my Alpha DAC straight into the DMA 360s, but I use the older generation MIT Oracle cables.

If I may ask, do you use MIT Oracle power cords on your DMA 360s?

 

[1rsw]

Thanks folks. Looks like it's pretty much a consensus, turn them off when not in use.

Mullard88- I just got the amps last week so not much experimenting with cords yet. I have them running with Oracle Z3's straight to the wall (R-1 outlet) so far. My plan is to try them to an Acoustic Revive RTP2 Ultimate which has always been my device of choice. I also plan to try a few other cords, I typically use Acoustic Revive Power Reference. I may also try an MIT conditioner. I have tried them in the past but my old amp drew too much current, these don't. I try and do this type of thing slowly so I can hear, get accustomed to, the impact of what new piece is being introduced.

 

[1rsw]

By the way, I am going to be changing cables. My IC had fixed impedance at high, these require low. I am trying to decide between and older set of Oracle MA, MA-X, Matrix 50 or MA-Xr2....

 

[nirodha]

MA-X rev. 2

About cables...the MA-X rev. 2 will knock your socks off ! They will bankrupt you, but the grin will not leave your face
Oh...and the query: I never leave my 360's on but I do not think they need an hour to sound respectable. P.S....like Mullard88: playing without a pre-amp (dCS Elgar Plus, straight into the 360s)

 

[1rsw]

About cables...the MA-X rev. 2 will knock your socks off ! They will bankrupt you, but the grin will not leave your face
Oh...and the query: I never leave my 360's on but I do not think they need an hour to sound respectable. P.S....like Mullard88: playing without a pre-amp (dCS Elgar Plus, straight into the 360s)

Thats what I hear. i very seriously doubt I will go that route simply because of cost. It's funny because I think my friend who has heard them used the very same expression. I better get some tight socks! The MA is within reach and the MA-X...maybe. The Matrix are very very good but a little bit lean, especially on the bottom.

 

[nirodha]

Thats what I hear. i very seriously doubt I will go that route simply because of cost. It's funny because I think my friend who has heard them used the very same expression. I better get some tight socks! The MA is within reach and the MA-X...maybe. The Matrix are very very good but a little bit lean, especially on the bottom.

Do not listen to the rev. 2s ...that was my "mistake": no going back after that. But the MA en MAX are great cables as well. Whatever the choice will be: you won't be sorry! Enjoy!!!

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

My amps do fine. Sometimes it takes my ears awhile to warm up.

Tim

 

[mep]

My amps do fine. Sometimes it takes my ears awhile to warm up.

Tim

See my post #94 here: http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showt...h-releases-Its-40th-Anniversary-Preamp/page10

For the record, unless it's a Class A amp, I leave all SS electronics on 24/7. They simply sound better that way. I have two systems, one of which is my he-man rig which is in a dedicated room and my home theater rig which is in a different part of the house. My AVR is a Denon and it hasn't been turned off for 8 years with the exception of power outages. I don't feel that you need to baby SS like you do tubes. Tubes become very expensive if you leave them on 24/7. Not so for SS.

 

[naturephoto1]

See my post #94 here: http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showt...h-releases-Its-40th-Anniversary-Preamp/page10

For the record, unless it's a Class A amp, I leave all SS electronics on 24/7. They simply sound better that way. I have two systems, one of which is my he-man rig which is in a dedicated room and my home theater rig which is in a different part of the house. My AVR is a Denon and it hasn't been turned off for 8 years with the exception of power outages. I don't feel that you need to baby SS like you do tubes. Tubes become very expensive if you leave them on 24/7. Not so for SS.

Hi Mark,

Interesting. For myself though, even though my amps are SS and used for both 2 channel and surround for home theater I personally would not do that. My First Watt M2 Power amps used for the front L & R channels is all Class A. My 3 Aragon Palladium 1K monoblock amps used for my Center Channel and side surrounds though Class A/B are biased to run up to 125 watts @8 ohms in Class A and my Krell KAV-25a/3 used for the rear channels of a 7.1 system is Class A/B but biased to run up to about 60 watts Class A for 3 channels. To say that least, I would be using a tremendous amount of electricity this way. It would be way too hot in the room for most of the warmer months, but I could heat about 1/4 or so of the house in winter.

Rich

 

[mep]

Rich-Since your amps are either pure Class A or are biased heavy into Class A, I wouldn't leave them on 24/7 either. I'm talking about Class A/B amps that don't put out significant amounts of power into Class A. All Class A/B amps put out some amount of power into Class A which is why they are Class A/B. The Class A/B amps that are capable of putting out a high number of watts into Class A before they switch over into Class B will run hot at idle and run up your electric bill. The easiest way to tell is to put your hand on an amp that has been on for an hour or so with no music running through it and see how hot it is. If you can't leave your hand on it, I wouldn't leave it on 24/7.

 

[msm_1]

Hi

I was asking this question when I first thought about buying my pair of DMA 200's amps. I have tried both, leaving them on 24/7 or.. turning them on about 2 hours, with playing an hour quietly before doing some serious listening. I can honestly say that I enjoyed the sound more when they were left on 24/7, but that is my opinion.... now I'm not sure how many amps there are that require the same amount of juice as my DMA 200's ( about 1200 watts at idle each ) and it's not cheap ( what is in this hobby ) but decided to worry about the energy cost the month after listening to them !!

Mike