2. amps-preamps
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How long daes it take your gear to warm up?

Assuming that one turns off/on the audio equipment every day. How long does it take for your gear to perform as it best after a cold start? I ask because my Rotels RA-1090 need about 2 hr to really shine, otherwise the highs are ear piercing and the bass notes lack some punch. Any of you have to go through a similar time of warm up period?
tiofelon
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,344 posts
 
My stuff generally sounds good from teh start but warm up does not hurt. Its important to me to be able to sit down and enjoy without a wait. Even the ARC sp16 tube pre-amp, which has a relay that turns on once the device warms up after power on in a matter of seconds, is 100% listenable out of the gate. Also I leave my SS DAC and power efficient Class D power amps on most of the time. You can't do that generally with most tube gear without reducing tube life.
spinaker01
491 posts
 
Maybe its just me and my tin ears, but I think my tube pre/amp sounds pretty stable after about 1/2 hour. No option of leaving it on 24/7 like I used to with my SS gear.
martinmobile
84 posts
 
Oh yeah! Go through that stuff we do. I find my system sounds its best after being on for at least 3 to 4 hours, and really liquid and flowing when it's been on for about 8 hours and the amps are as hot as the core of the sun.
I have solid state B.A.T. monoblocks (VK600se's), and I had big Krell's before that. Both of them you could fry eggs on after about 4 hours, which is when they are/were in their groove and all is right with the world!
tmsorosk
1,013 posts
 
We also leave our solid state stuff on 24/7/52. When we leave the country for a vacation and power everything down it seems like most of the gear comes on song after a few hours, but the power amp doesn't smooth out for 24 to 48 hours. The cost of leaving things on hasn't made any noticeable difference on our power bill. My dealer also mentioned that the equipment will last longer if powered up constantly.
larryi
4,060 posts
 
It really depends on the gear. Solid state gear takes far more time than tube gear, one reason why most people leave solid state gear on all the time.

My CD player, in particular, takes a long time to sound good. The manufacturer says that it should be powered up all the time (they claim it takes at least 24 hours to be fully on song).

I have found, in the past, that solid state amps take a good half hour to forty-five minutes to sound decent whereas my tube amps take about ten to twenty minutes to sound good.
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