Turning older devices on and off

I am trying to determine whether it would be worthwhile and possible to install a device to power my external amp (an older 205 wpc Parasound 1200 II) and an even older velodyne subwoofer on and off. Neither device has a DC trigger circuit that could be attached to the 1050's trigger, nor any type of direct infared input. Consequently if I go forward I would need to get an external device that could handle their large power loads.

Is this even a worthwhile effort for either device. The 1200II's manual indicate the device "requires at least 72 hours of continuous operation after it is first turned on to sound its best". It doesn't indicate it should be left on continually as I have been doing. Also if I do so, I will bypassing what ever power on buffering might occur in the internal systems. If turning the power on via an external switch damages the circuits of either device then I would rather stay the way I am. If this doesn't cause any problems than I am interested in a way to make this happen.

Does anyone have any suggestions for something that would be reliable and cheap besides turning them on and off manually? It could work off the 1050's circuit or with an infrared signal. My primary objective is to reduce my electrical costs so I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on an elaborate power management/conditioning system as this would defeat the primary purpose of acquiring this which is to save money. Also in my particular location of Southern California, this is almost completely unnecessary.

My, ahem!, definitely low-budget solution:

In my main theatre I leave all of my subwoofers (four in total - including two Velodyne Servo 1200's) in the "on" position - including those with a "standby" setting. No problem. My B&W ASW-1000 made funny sounds in the "standby" position during soft passages - as it cycled itself on and off - subwoofer burps!

I have all of my power amps (7 stereo units, 4 of which are running in "bridged" mode) connected to a single switched powerbar (strip outlet) - which is in turn connected to a "protected" plug on a big UPS unit (ie. surge and spike protected but not UPS-enabled.) I leave all of the amps switched on, and when I hit the powerbar switch they all fire up - with absolutely no problem. (They all still go through their initial power-on cycle ranging from a few seconds to more than twelve seconds, until their protection circuits disengage.) I was initially worried that the turn-on draw would be enough to trip that 15A circuit but it's never happened. I would therefore conclude that someone with a more modest amp stack should have no problem as well.

Jeff Mackwood

Thanks for the feedback on the safety issue. Would I be correct in assuming there isn't a significant sound issue?

While I could implement a solution similar to what you have suggested, this will cause some issues for the wife and kids.

Consequently, I am still interested in finding a solution that I could automate. For example, is an X10 type solution an option.

I understand the Panamax 5100 and 4300 type units would work but they are in the $130 - $200 plus range. I would love to find something cheaper. However, if anyone has a comment about the 4300 I am interested in their experiences.

I use X10 to turn my two older Adcom amps on and off, and have been very happy with it. I got an X-10 IR receiver ($27.00), along with two appliance modules ($13.00 each), from Smarthome.com. I use my Home Theatre Master MX-500 remote to turn them on or off. It makes it really easy for the wife and kids, because I programed it into my "On" and "Off" macros on my remote.

Willy: Do you plug your appliance modules into a surge protector or are they wall plug replacements. I assume that if you use the former configuration the surge protector does not impact the X10 power line signature signal? If you use the later do you have the surge protector(s) after the X10 units?

I do have them plugged into a surge protector, and it does not interfer with the X10 signals.

I'd like to hear more solutions here, as I have two amplifiers that don't have a 12v trigger; I'd like to turn them on and off instead of leaving them on all the time.

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Philip Hamm

Well as mentioned before, a component line
conditioner like Panamax (4300,4310,5100,5300
5500 and 5510) or Monster Power (HTS2600,3600,5100 and higher) have 12v inputs,some even have pass thru outputs!
If you have a 950 unit,plug the 12v (main)to
the power conditioner 12v in.
I have a Panamax 5100, and by turning the 950
on and off the amps follow.
Also this units protect from AC surges and brown outs.