Is there any sonic advantage to leaving stereo gear turned on at all times?

[Summit]

28 minutes ago, Archimago said:

 

(1) and (3) are quite extreme statements which you have not qualified with any detail. Care to explain with examples?

 

(2) is true to an extent but again let's not take it to extremes.

 

Given your extreme statements, it's hard to take this seriously.

 

No one does.

[Summit]

14 hours ago, fas42 said:

 

OTOH, what make me happy is having a better understanding of all the factors that contribute to optimal SQ. 

 

Since you do not think that neither room acoustics, the placement of the speakers in the room nor the recording play a major role for ultimate sound quality, I do not think I agree about that.

[Summit]

11 hours ago, fas42 said:

 

The key word there is "major" - room acoustics, speaker placement, and especially recording quality do play a role, but IME when a setup is properly optimised in other areas, those aspects only play a minor part; what really matters is the ability of a rig to as accurately as possible deliver just what is on the recording, and no more than that - this is something you can gauge by literally having your ear right next to a speaker; when replay is of sufficient merit then it's very obvious that's what you're hearing. As an example, with some orchestral piece, when there is a momentary pause in the music, you can then hear all the rustling, movement of people, and spurious noises in the recording space; the 'murmuring' of the acoustic; the noise of the recording hiss - it's all there. If that is not clearly, unambiguously reproduced then the ability of the system to present a realistic portrayal of the event is markedly reduced.

 

It doesn't matter how good the plackback system is if the source (recording) is of low quality or if the system is improperly setup. The same if the room has poor "acoustics". The inability to hear how big effect this aspects have is IMHO mind blowing.

[Summit]

Components used in hifi gear has a temperature sweet spot which they are designed to perform/sound best at. It's just like with formula 1 tires there the rubber performs better and sticks to the track more than cold rubber. Some F1 tires is designed to perform at around 100C and therefore the tires need to be heated up to this temperature to preform att its best on the track.

[Summit]

13 hours ago, StephenJK said:

I'm not sure what you mean by a "temperature sweet spot".  I suspect that manufacturers of stereo gear use components for a certain performance and price point - just like any other competent designer. 

 

And, they then use their experience and software design tools to determine how to best place components and solder traces on a circuit board to achieve their goal. 

 

I suspect that thermal optimization isn't part of that tool kit, other than wanting to keep temperature sensitive components away from power gizmos that could cause a premature failure.  

 

Maybe it's just me, but I would have to categorize your analogy of stereo equipment design to F1 Grand Prix racing as nebulous at best.  

 

And, let's not forget Dr. Ferdinand Porsche's comment on race cars - "The perfect racing car crosses the finish line first and subsequently fails into its component parts."

 

I don't think that's what we want from our stereo gear.  😆

 

 

 

 

Temperature sweet spot = Optimal working temperature for the components = The temperature they sound best at

 

Different type of optimizations is what make one HIFI gear better sounding than another. That you didn't get my analogy about the importance of reaching the "right" temp for both stereo equipment and formula 1 tires is quite telling of your understanding of the subject at hand. 

[Summit]

10 hours ago, Allan F said:

 

It might be different if audio manufacturers provided warm-up blankets for their equipment like Pirelli does for F1 tires. 🙂

 

You have the on/off button, so no need for warm-up blankets for hifi equipment. 

[Summit]

10 hours ago, fas42 said:

 

Consider this ... the general consensus is that we want the system to deliver a realistic presentation of some musical event. Let's say, a composition for string quartet. First, we bring in some renowned players to do it, live, for us - does the audiophile attendee say, "Wait, wait, before you sit down I have to organise the room acoustics, make sure you all sit in exactly the right positions with respect to the surrounding wall, and then I have to sit in the "sweet spot"; otherwise, you will be pretty 'orrible to listen to!" The rest of the listeners scratch their collective heads, curious about this "mad uncle", .

 

Assuming these modifications aren't done, and the terribleness of the experience was survived by all , then we bring in a competent playback system, capable of realistic reproduction, and it plays a recording done by that same mob of players who were on earlier ... I'm curious what terrible sin is committed here, that makes this music " 'orrible to listen to!" ...

 

I call what I do, audio conjuring ... and part of this magic is the 'miracle' of how low technical quality recordings yield such a powerfully immersive listening experience - unless you hear a setup that is sufficiently sorted to allow this to happen you probably won't understand how remarkable this is, .

 

Yes the concert hall should of course have good acoustics and the orchestra be in the right positions. Not all audience will have the best the seats in a concert hall. Many are in fact less than optimal from a SQ perspective. This is why many book their sweet spot seats well in advance and also pay extra for them.

 

You do no magic just talk a lot of nonsens.  

[Summit]

2 hours ago, Allan F said:

 

But that takes time to reach operating temperature. 

 

If it takes long time to reach operating temperature it's better keep the gear on "all the time". If it only takes 15-60 min to reach operating temperature you can turn it off at night.