Turn on before listening; turn off after listening
:lmao: :thmbsp:
The easy way to remember the recommended sequence is simply to think that gear being turned on or off can send out a "pop" at the time you switch it on or off. You do not want that "pop" going out through your speakers, as it might damage them.
Therefore, when turning things on you turn the preamp on BEFORE the power amp. That way, if it pops, the pop will go to the still-turned-off power amp, and not make it to the speaker. A pop cannot damage gear that has not been turned on, unless it is something like a lightning-strike POP! Conversely, when turning gear off, turning the power amp off FIRST prevents any pops from the preamp (or earlier gear in the chain) from going through your speakers.
Of course, if your power amp produces the pop, you're screwed no matter what, so make sure that unit is kept well-maintained.
As for tube warm-up, it won't take long to produce sound. My preamps and power amps have two modes: "stand-by" and "on". to REALLY switch them off, you have to unplug them! The indicator LED light switches color 70 seconds after you turn a unit "on", and it will play from then. However, you can hear improvements in the sound over the first 30-60 minutes, as the tubes heat up fully and more-or-less stabilize. I think that is true for almost all tube gear. There are showrooms here in Hong Kong that will refuse to demo their gear for you, unless you give them advance warning, because they know that it takes that long for their systems to fully heat up and sound their best.
I rarely wait an hour before I start listening, but I do realize that what I hear immediately after start-up is not the best sound I can hear, so if I think of it far enough ahead of time and I'm in the mood for some "serious" listening, sometimes I'll let the system sit on for a while and go eat or do something else for a little while, before I start the "serious" listening.
Fortunately, the optimal listening temp is reached much faster if the gear has been sitting in "standby mode" instead of fully off - within perhaps 5-10 minutes, so if I have multiple listening sessions planned within a day, or am only stopping listening or a little while to focus on something else, I may just leave the gear sitting that way.
