power supply with auto shutoff

[azrockitman]

I been searching for a powerstrip with a manual timer on it.  Not a Timer that has an off/on setting, but for lack of better description, a powerstrip with a timer like a kitchen timer....you spin the wheel to a desired setting and then it would shut off power to any device, once it hit that elapsed time.

Why?  I seem to have a real problem remembering to turn off my stereomour.  I never turn off my solid state equipment manually.  I do have my s/s preamp tied to my tv via hdmi so when I shut off the display, it shuts off my preamp.  But there are many times where my s/s equipment stays on for weeks and i've never worried about it.  My s/s state amps have been on for years.  Never shut off.

But I hate to just power my stereomour for a few days or longer in the instances that I forget to shut it off.  If it was driving music, I guess I would be happy it was burning in, but it's not.  It's just sitting there wasting electricity.  In theory, that's no different than my s/s amps but these amps run hot and if I've heard correctly, there is no benefit to powering a tube amp with nothing being driven.  If that's correct, I don't want to just needlessly wear components.

All the powerstrip's I've found are the off and on setting version.  I don't want that.  I did find this though:

http://www.belkin.com/conserve/socket/

It has a 30 min/3 hour/6 hour setting.  The 3 or 6 hour setting would probably be ideal for me but my biggest concern is this:  could something like this do any harm to my amp?

 

[adamct]

It's interesting you mention those Belkin devices. I've looked into them in the past and I think they are a pretty brilliant idea.

I've adopted a slightly different approach, however. I use these and these. These are surge protectors that have an energy-saving function. The power strip has a "master" device that then controls all of the "slaved" sockets. I use one for my TV (to control my Roku, DVD player and Dolby decoder), one for my living room DAC (to control my amp, my digital switch box, and my Pure i-20), one for my computer (to control my monitor, printer, and other accessories) and one for the DAC in my study (to control another Pure i-20 and myriad headphone amplifiers). Frankly, it works amazingly well.

I don't know what your source is, but if you use your source as your master and slave your Stereomour, you will never have a problem.

Side note: why do you leave your solid state equipment on all the time? I know some people claim there is a sonic benefit to doing so, but the amount of energy that is wasted just seems unconscionable...

Lastly, I highly recommend getting a pack of these. They make dealing with power strips a breeze. That $8.50 has saved me tons of frustration. (Note: the negative reviews are from a couple of years ago when some reseller (these are sold by numerous vendors as a generic item) shipped out the wrong cables. The more recent reviews are overwhelmingly positive. I just recently bought a 2nd pack and they were all perfect.)

Best regards,
Adam

 

[adamct]

I forgot to add: the Mediabridge item is cheaper, looks good, has great build quality and better surge protection statistics. It feels like something that was built by someone who really thought about the product and wanted to focus on quality. It is mostly metal.

The Tripp Lite item is more expensive, made of the typical cheap plastic (although it is robust enough), ugly as sin and has slightly worse surge protections statistics. It feels like most mass-produced surge protectors.

So why do I mention the Tripp Lite? Because it has a switch that lets you select between two different current trigger levels. The trigger current level on the Mediabridge is a bit high and can't be changed, so that my DACs didn't regularly trigger it (although my TV and computer do). The Tripp Lite has two setting, can even be triggered by an energy efficient netbook, and has no problem working with my DACs.

Best regards,
Adam

 

[azrockitman]

Thanks Adam, I'll look into both those products.  (and I agree, I have a pack of those shorty extensions....they're great!!!)

I leave those amps on for a couple of reasons.  I've always heard that the hardest "moment" in an electronic devices life is power up.  They are relatively powerful, weren't cheap, and the company is now out of business. So I don't turn them on and off, other than when I go out of town then I hit the big power supply and turn all of it off.  My preamp and other devices are shut off regularly.  The other reason, perhaps even more compelling, is that the amps are very difficult to get to.  They are mounted inside a dividing wall between two rooms, ventilated on top, but the power switch is barely within arms reach.  (the rear side for connections is what's more easily accessible)  That is all plugged into a good size power conditioner/surge protector but it has a start up procedure each time it's actived and turns each device on with a delay between devices. It would not be practical to be using it to shut everything down several times a day.

I don't turn my computers off for the same reason, but my Mac has an energy saving mode that kicks in after 15 minutes so I'm presuming that's a decent compromise.  I don't think it powers it completely off, because it boots up fairly quickly. 

Thanks again

 

[adamct]

Makes sense.

Do try out the master/slave devices I listed. I'm pleased as punch with how well they work. And there is no stooping or reaching to flip a switch on an inconveniently located surge protector or by an outlet. I turn all of my TV peripherals on and off just using my TV remote, and I turn all of my audio gear on and off just by pushing the power button on my DAC.

 

[azrockitman]

I like it.  Thanks!

 

[STURMJ]

And then there's this.
http://www.tripplite.com/en/products/model.cfm?txtModelID=4938
dual timers day of week settings seems perfect for you.