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Power saving HiFI - conundrum

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    Power saving HiFI - conundrum

    Am I off base thinking amps could get smarter and idle down when not needed. My cats love sitting on the top shelf of the HiFi rack because on the shelf below is a great heat monster burning up my power bill 24/7/365.

    Is there a Energy Star rating for HiFi systems.

    I get that it needs to burn power to get the audio out. This is not a Bryston and I don't put coins in the fusebox to bypass protection ((this is an old wives tale)and shows my seniority there) but it does waste a substantial amount of energy just waiting to amplify that sound all day.

    Is there a certain class of amp I should be looking at? Class D?
    Possibly a NAD system? Do they still exist?

    I am considering multi-room 4 or 5 rooms with upper MidFi to HiFi approach and always on for announcements. Ceiling speakers in at least 2 locations.

    #2
    I think it depends on the make.
    I used to have a stack of Linn monoblocks. They were set to go into power saving mode after 10 minutes of no signal. It kept the circuits warm but didn't draw much energy.
    I now have a Yamaha AV amp. When the controller goes into standby it turns the power amp off.

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      #3
      I wrote a plugin for the 6 zone monoprice amp.http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=176027 One of the users did some testing with a kilo watt meter and here is what he found:

      When a zone is in standby you need a 1 second delay in the event for the amp to have time to power up. My amp has been in standby all night and I just put my hand on it, it is cold all over except the front corner where it is closer to room temperature, but I wouldn't call it warm.
      https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/de...plifier-plugin

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        #4
        Originally posted by IanIreland View Post
        I think it depends on the make.
        I used to have a stack of Linn monoblocks. They were set to go into power saving mode after 10 minutes of no signal. It kept the circuits warm but didn't draw much energy.
        I now have a Yamaha AV amp. When the controller goes into standby it turns the power amp off.
        How long would you say the delay is with the Yamaha for it to get out of Standby. Also does this auto sense sound at the input and clip it off until the amp is fully powered ? Similar for the Lynns ?

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          #5
          Originally posted by happnatious1 View Post
          I wrote a plugin for the 6 zone monoprice amp.http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=176027 One of the users did some testing with a kilo watt meter and here is what he found:

          When a zone is in standby you need a 1 second delay in the event for the amp to have time to power up. My amp has been in standby all night and I just put my hand on it, it is cold all over except the front corner where it is closer to room temperature, but I wouldn't call it warm.
          So looking at the chart you quoted, I'm guessing that the All Zones Off is the Standby mode you mention. In the On with no music playing mode does it need any delay at all for paging?

          How would you describe the Monoprice amp sound quality, MidFi or HiFi. Do you use it for all of your listening? High SPLs ?

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            #6
            The answer to your first question is that a class D amplifier will put out the least heat (and consume the least current) at idle. The vast majority of past amplifier designs and most current designs are class AB, some small amplifiers can be class A. A class AB amplifier always has idle or quiescent current. On a two channel unit this is much less of a factor than a 5, 7, 9 or 11 channel amplifier. My Yamaha receivers have 11 100+ watt amplifiers and even at idle these will consume 60-80 watts. I have a couple of RXA3000 and a couple of RXA2000 receivers. The newer versions of these starting with the RXA3030 and RXA2030 offer an ECO mode, reducing the consumption by about 20%, but that still puts them at 50-60 watts or more at idle.

            A class D amplifier is all digital, so its output devices theoretically are either 100% on or 100% off, so the idle current should be very low.

            As far as Energy Star ratings, there are specifications for AV equipment, but the list is sparse. Here is the posted list.

            The reason the list is so sparse is that class D amplifiers usually don't sound very good. The vast majority of class D amplifiers are in subwoofers because of the narrow bandwidth, or in lower power lesser quality sound systems like TV soundbars.
            HS4 Pro, 4.2.19.0 Windows 10 pro, Supermicro LP Xeon

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