How Soon Do You Realize You Don't Like a Piece of Gear?
I've been running all Allnic H3000 for a bit and love it. I decided to try a solid state transimpedance phono, The Grail by Van Den Hul and am coming out unconvinced of the change. The VDH has only been powered on for 24 hours and not fully broken in yet, which is estimated to be around 50-100 "listening hours".
I don't hate the VDH, but am curious if it's going to grow on me or not. It has the detail, silence and linearity in spades, but my Allnic has the gravity, lushness, depth and ethereal timber I've grown to absolutely love. How soon until I should cut my losses and move back the Allnic and what are your thoughts on break-in time and waiting it out?
I had the same experience changing power amps. I believe you will have an initial impression right out of the box. If you're not "neutral" right out of the box, break-in won't move you to positive. Just my experience. Moving from tubes to SS is difficult for most. I know it was for me. Just saying. In the end I did move out of tube power amps (because of cost & heat) but ended up adding a tube pre back in the chain. Trust your ears!!! |
@cfarrow how long did you allow yours in your system? And there was so little information on The Grail, two or three reviews and one or two Agon threads so it was a blind experience. I may be too far into tubes, but again I'm going to allow it to settle for a few more days. Can anyone explain in layman terms what happens during the run in process? |
@testrun that's exactly what I was running from, the summer heat and tubes. My room is small is get overwhelmed with heat very easily. I have class D Atma-sphere's and I absolutely love them, I might just be forced to run tubes on the front end. A Nagra dealer told me to check out the VPS and very low heat as he winked. |
Maybe I am missing something or the right decisions were made for my Audio needs many years ago in relation to Power Amp's and Speakers the choice made back in the 90's still remain today. Since the 90's the TT used as a Source, along with Tonearm, Cart', have changed from Branded 'Off the Shelve products', to substantially modified Bespoke designs. The Phonostage and Pre Amp's have changed between Branded SS and Valve Designs, through to what can now be called Bespoke Designs. The latest Pre Amp Design, is to be a version of a loaned design. My one being produced, t I will refer to as a psuedo-Triode Valve (if comparing to a conventional Triode type). The Design is Balanced and to be Housed in Densified Wood Casing. If all goes to plan, the Power Amps are to be Balanced Converted later during this year. I could not settle with what was on offer from Brands at the monies I was willing to Spend, using a commission build route has served me very well. Hand Wound Transformers, Boutique Components Selected and the option on how much monies I wanted to spend on the aesthetics, all add up to a lot of valuable electronics not able to be offered by a Brand at a certain price. |
