Value of burn/break in?

Some good suggestions. I wish I could leave it on, but I am a truck driver and gone most of the time.

Amarg....good points about my speakers and power amp as far as burn in, and then also my interconnects and power cables which are all brand new as well. Hifiman 5 said be patient...sounds appropriate

I'm an old school guy and like to burn/break in myself and listen to the gradual changes in my sound system. It seems that listening to your audio system by using your ears is a lost art these days. Also keep in mind when running your tube phono preamplifier or any other tube gear you have 24/7 will lower the overall life of those vacuum tubes.

I'm also new to hifi and had a similar experience with a system that had been sitting a few years (tube pre-amp). First listen and I was like, "what's all the fuss about this hifi stuff" and was very unimpressed.

Now, my test was hardly controlled and I think that speaker positioning and then ultimately a room change helped a great deal but even before that I think some run time did indeed make a difference.

From one beginner to another, do not underestimate room and speaker placement.

Tubes hit optimal operating temperatures very quickly. Get a infrared thermometer and measure yourself. After a few minutes you're just wasting electricity and shelf-life of your tubes if you're not listening to music. On the other hand, small tubes last for >10k hours so...

I like to listen as my new component breaks in and occasionally speed it up with Ayre's Irrational but Efficacious!  CD system enhancement disc.

All the best,
Nonoise