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Does your system hate you when you ignore her?

I've not been able to listen to my system seriously for about 3 weeks. I just sat down to Emmylou Harris' " Red Dirt Girl" on HDCD. My first impression was that the soundstage was not as wide as I expected. I suppose that it's possible that components need to re-burn in after prolonged periods without being energized. I also suppose it's possible that one's trained listening skills may need refreshing after a period of atrophy.

Have you experienced similar things? What were the variables that you were able to eliminate, such as experiencing the same effect on two different systems, one rested and one not, in the same time period after not listening.
2channel8
three_easy_payments's avatar
three_easy_payments
2,097 posts
 
I'm not sure I believe that components need to be re-burned in but they do need to warm up.  Assuming my gear is warmed up first I actually perceive the opposite - my senses have been deprived wonderful sound for so long that they crave it and absorb it even more readily with heightened awareness.  It's like after depriving myself a favorite food or wine for weeks - those first few bites or sips are even better than I remembered!
erik_squires
16,134 posts
 
Depends on the gear. I had Class D amps which needed a solid 3 days of being on before they sounded listenable.
My current amp, a Luxman, warms up in no time flat.

I've heard reports from a Pass owner that some of their amps can take 5 days to warm up.

I really wish I knew what the component was specifically which caused this, especially since Class D is so radically different.
tooblue
1,931 posts
 
My system never hates me and welcomes me back with open arms when returning after a brief absence, it's as if it says, where you been and welcome home.
reubent
7,005 posts
 
@2channel8 - How familiar are you with that exact recording? I have it on CD and I recently bought it on Vinyl. I expected the vinyl to be awesome because I had also bought the vinyl 3-LP remaster of "Wrecking Ball" and "Wrecking Ball" was fantastic. Anyway, listened to the LP of "Red Dirt Girl" a couple of times and promptly sold it. No life to it at all. I like a lot of the songs, but the recording was blah.

Also, was your system powered off for three weeks? My system takes a couple of days of being powered on to sound its best.
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