Audiophie? or Audiphool? question....

[W1GUH]

I've got this phono preamp, a Creek OBH-18. I read somewhere, probably the manual for the unit, that it's best to leave it powered on all the time. Said something about the caps need a while to stabilize after power-up and for best results leave it on so it's instantly ready to go.

Thoughts? Opinions? Facts?

Audiophile (good)?

or

Audiophool (bad)?

As a practical matter the thing draws negligible power, so from that point of view the question is moot.

OTOH, this opens it up to power surge damage.

What do you think?

BTW... That is an f'ing AWESOME piece of work. I fell in love with it the first time I listened. A friend at work took it home and checked it out in his workshop. He said the same thing. Also reported that the RIAA curve is dead-nuts-on. This puppy is indispensible when digitizing vinyl.

[n2ize]

There should be no need to keep it powered up continually.

[W1GUH]

Thinking the same thing. And anyway, even if there IS a difference, it's probably inaudible and discernible only with lab instrumentation. Thanks for the input, John.

[WØTKX]

You could leave it on if you want to, but it's kinda silly.

Like the instant on TV sets that kept the filaments going.

[KC2UGV]

Ya gotta pre-cook the oxygen free wires inside...

[kf0rt]

From the manual:


The on/off switch is located on the rear panel. As the OBH 18 draws very little power it may be left switched on permanently.

http://www.creekaudio.com/products/instructions/obh18.pdf

Looks like the power switch is between the power supply and the amp anyway....

[W1GUH]

Yea....relevance?

After further thought I'm thinking that it's possible the specs are so tight (reflected in the unit's performance) that many, many more time constants are required to bring the preamp into spec. than is "normal."

Whether or not that level of performance is ever heard or not, IMHO, is questionable, and is semi-adiophool; but necessary for marketing to the market.

Well, no...."semi-audiophool" is too strong. My definition of "audiophool" includes stuff that costs big bucks for no performance gain. And this question doesn't involve anyone making money off of it.

[HUGH]

Switch it off when not use. It's more likely to suffer from a supply surge if it's always on and it is possible to have a small fire even with the best components and construction.

[W1GUH]

Switch it off when not use. It's more likely to suffer from a supply surge if it's always on and it is possible to have a small fire even with the best components and construction.

GMTA!!!

Agree 100%

Barkeep...one for the gentleman here. :agree::cheers:

[N8YX]

Either switch it off or put a computer UPS (600-1000VA) between the amp and the wall.