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Warm up time for amps

My amps ( I have many but as an example in this case Bryston 7b3's) seem to take a good 45 minutes to reach best sound. My question is ... how do I warm them up quicker? Is playing them on a revolving loop or shuttle BEFORE my listening starts the only option? If that is the case does playing at low volume achieve the same results, and/or does playing louder speed things up, and if so presumably the louder, the quicker in proportions?
And in that box, is the ambient temperature (eg summer or winter) a factor? To me, it should make no difference with all that stuff going on inside a confined space,  but someone will tell me otherwise? I could rig up small fan heaters to blow for ten minutes? If it cuts down warm up time by half for example it may not be such a  stupid or strange idea as I think it might be, as it would increase the proportion of "enjoyable" listening time substantially.
I could even be super smart by putting timers on the fans (which in case anyone points out a supply contamination issue ... could be on a different circuit entirely
The amps are rarely switched off.
This issue does frustrate. All that expensive kit not performing at best for a period ....
tatyana69
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
As others have noted there is no getting around the fact it just takes time. One thing you might try is running a demagnetizing track. The XLO test CD has two, and there are others. Basically its a tone that sweeps and/or slowly fades to zero. First time if you've never done this you should notice a pretty obvious improvement with blacker backgrounds, better detail and dynamics, and less grain and glare. In other words pretty similar to what you get as the system warms up more. 

I copied mine off the XLO CD and burned onto another CD with the tracks repeated 6 times, so I can just stick it in and let it play while I go do something else. Few minutes later, all is ready to go. Nice part is this gets not only the amp but the interconnects, speaker cables, everything the signal passes through.
tatyana69 OP
269 posts
 
Thanks Elizabeth - I think I need to contact Bryston to see what technical issues (beyond my normal ken)  come into play.
My 28bsst2's have a similar problem and if I were to rely on memory (not a good thing!) I would say they took 20 minutes to warm up from idle.
So oddly ... a bit less time ..... so model variance could be an issue. And  my 4bsst2 a bit quicker than that, now I come to think about it.

Millercarbon - are you saying running the  demagnetizing track reduces warm up time?
andrewkelley
271 posts
 
Where can I get an xlo test cd @millercarbon
terry9
2,253 posts
 
Do you need heat in the winter? Use your amps instead!

I leave my class A's at one third power most of the time, and go to full power an hour or three before listening. I have found no difference between running at full power with a signal and running at full power without a signal. But that's class A.
f917025
81 posts
 
change the amp it's too harsh unless it's really hot than it's smoother.
24/7 should be good enough to sound good from the first minute but after an hour all amps will sound better.try to choose one that sounds good enough once it's on .the rest is a bonus(it's like a mini break in every time it operates).
or you can swap the speakers or the source to something less intense or warmer and keep the amp. try to first spot your problem tone wise than figure a way to deal with it by changing something to the opposite direction. brystons can be bright.adding a tube buffer can help.
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