I am posting this here as I use the M-975 but this might be the wrong section.

The subject summed it up. Is there a "good" way to trigger vintage amplifiers that do not have 12v triggers?

The idea of a triggered outlet has been suggested but seems a bad idea as certain parts of the amps electronics are still energized even with the switch off. Any ideas?

My main amp has a 12v trigger, but I have powered sub that does not. I use a Panamax power strip/surge protector that has both triggered and non-triggered outlets and plug the sub into one of the triggered outlets.

I have a truly vintage stereo amp (old enough to run for President!) that is not in my main system, but it definitely is not energized until one pushes the power button on the front panel.

http://www.ekmmetering.com/ekm-switch120.html

This could suffice for your needs. Doesn't have a 3.5mm jack on it though. You have to splice the wires to connect. This is one of several options, that you'll find with a quick web search.

Is it bad if these things aren't powered on all the time? Without an integrated trigger, the best you'll be able to do is a triggered outlet. I suppose if you really wanted to get creative, you could crack open the amp and trace the circuits you want to turn off. Then you could put a triggered switch in series with those and leave the others you want powered all the time alone, but that sounds like a lot of work without any guaranteed payoff and is more likely just a good way to break your amp.

Thanks for the replies. A guy on the Polk forum just took delivery of his M-975 and asked the amp question so I thought I would ask here. I doubt it hurts anything to leave a solid state amp energized. Anything upgraded to Blackgate capacitors being the exception and given their lifespan we are still talking about ten years+ in standby.

With tube prices I leave the office rig powered off until wanted.

Thanks again for the comments and suggestions.