The outlet is switched, it only comes on when the Monster is switched on.

Hey Gonk,

If it's actually switched (such that the 990 is completely unpowered at times), how do you turn the 990's outlet on?

When I turn on the Monster 3500, it puts the 990 into stand-by, then I have to pop the button to turn it on.

Is the amp outlet separately switched via trigger cable? Or is it simply on a delay?
So why not leave the Monster on all the time? What does that extra step gain you?

Also, there are other devices in your system that may have a real need to stay in standby rather than having power cut. Cable and satellite receivers often update program guides and firmware while in standby mode, for example, and DVR's need to be in standby so they can record shows when you aren't around. If you are switching them off, you are going to create some headaches for yourself as well as routinely delaying start-up time.

The amp outlet is just on a delay to prevent the pop you might get, no trigger.

The 3500 has a total of 10 outlets, 2 are swithced, 2 are on a delay, 6 are unswitched, always on. I use the unswitched for cable box, game systems, CD, DVD players etc. I only use the delay for the amp and the switched for the pre as Monster recommends.

I never had the buzzing sound that I do now. The only thing I changed out was the Blu-ray player.

If I left the Monster on all the time, the amp would be on all the time with it.

I disagree with Monster's recommendation to switch the pre-amp, but that's just me. (Plus, I know my wife would flat-out never go for having to walk up to the power conditioner to turn the system on, and I wouldn't really care for it myself - there are reasons I've invested some time and money in a good universal remote, and putting a physical switch upstream of the system like that runs counter to those reasons.) They may have some reasoning for the recommendation, but I don't see it - especially since they didn't include any sort of trigger inputs on the 3500 (at least not from the pics I found of it). The current draw in standby is going to be tiny.

If the amp is delayed a few seconds after the Monster is turned on but the pre-amp doesn't come out of standby immediately, I see no benefit to the delay - the amp is at that point on when the pre-amp wakes up. Personally, I'd use a trigger cable to turn the amp on and off from the 990 and leave the Monster on all the time. You lose the delay, but I don't see that you're getting a benefit from the delay now anyway and there are plenty of folks with installations this way that suffer no ill effects.

As for the new buzz you are getting at start-up, I can't explain it. I'd probably start by checking my wiring, particularly power cords near the amp's inputs. Another interesting experiment would be to turn the amp off at the front panel, turn the power conditioner on, and then turn the amp on just to see what happens.

Thanks gonk, will try tonight. I do agree with you also. I have a Harmony 720 that I am going to sat back up tongiht also.
Thanks.

With the Adcom ACE 515 line enhancer. It has outlets for power amps and other outlets for other components. The turn on of the power amp outlets is delayed 10 seconds on startup to allow the preamp and other components to power up and stabilize first. When I switch off the adcom after I'm done with the system, it turns off the power amps first and gives them 15 seconds to power down before switching the AC off to the other components.

I do leave my uverse receivers always plugged into a live outlet, as well as my TV's. I also have a purely two channel non digital preamp, a Threshold T2, hooked into my main system that has been powered up continously for about 14 years since I bought it. I use it's remote to put it in standby when I'm not using it, but it has a separate 10 pound box sitting next to the main unit on the shelf that is it's power supply section. It's pilot light is always on.

According to Threshold, that preamp sounds best when it's circuits are kept active all the time.

Scott

The Adcom doesn't appear to have a trigger, so it sounds like you flip it on and the power amps come on 10 seconds later. But the pre-amp goes into standby immediately and waits to be told to turn on. The pre-amp doesn't really start powering up and stabilizing until you pick up its remote and turn it on (or hit its front panel power button). I guess you are still distributing device start-up so they all don't come on at once, but I'd think you'd get the system more stabilized if the only device being switched by the Adcom was the amp - turn on your pre-amp (bringing it from standby to on), then kick on the Adcom so the amp fires up. I don't know - I may be overlooking something, as it's late and my eyes are a bit blurry...

That is correct. The Adcom does have sort of trigger system, but it's an older implementation. There are two power cords from it..a thick three pronged one that goes directly into a wall outlet, and a thinner two prong one that can be plugged into a switched power outlet on the back of a preamp or receiver for example. If you plug that preamp or receiver into the unswitched outlet on the back of the Adcom, when that preamp is turned on by it's remote, it triggers the adcom line enhancer to turn on.

Kind of useless now because very few pre amps come with switched power outlets on the back any longer.

Scott