AVA Van Alstine SET 400 amplifier -- burn in?

@gryphongryph I’ll post them. I have tube stuff and thought, I should try a solid state just as a possible alternative -- for variety, for backup, etc. I researched Sugden, Pass, Belles, and some other Class A stuff, but since I put my system together recently and my speakers require a bit of oomph to drive, I decided on the SET 400. Apparently, it’s made to sound fairly "warm" (I know, vague word), and that it runs in class A for the early watts. And, it’s $2k rather than much more than that. Seemed worth a shot.

My room is just recently (like, yesterday) about as dialed in as I can make it, and so this weekend I’ll listen to my tube stuff with the bigger tubes (KT88’s rather than 77’s) to set that impression in stone (with the room settled) and then I’ll try the SET 400 initially and then run it in a while, and compare. At its price point, it seems hard to beat, but if I don’t like it, I’ll send it back.

FWIW, I've been listening to a relatively new podcast with Duncan (of TMR) and Darren (of P.S. Audio) and one of them made the interesting comment that as their system has improved, some tracks which sounded ok now sound great, where others that sounded great now reveal flaws. They both understand recording and mastering, and since that part of the equation is all over the map, the "dialed in" nature of any system is fluctuating from both the gear and recording side. This seems like something audiophiles know already, but the way they described it helped solidify the ever-heterogenous nature of "the" sound of one's system. That helps me chill out with tracks that tempt me to blame my system too quickly. It also makes a powerful little argument to always have a tweak (a different bit of kit or an equalizer) handy.

i personally dont want to get opinions from members on how something should sound out of the box or after a few days of run time. 
  i think that when you do this, you are setting expectations and if those expectations dont happen , then one is disappointed .       

 how something sounds in another members system is not going to be the same as another member as there are to many variables to consider (other equipment  / cables / room, etc. )

one should be able to know pretty quick if something is a keeper or not.

@riley804 Your caution is appreciated.

I'm confident enough in my abilities to listen for myself. But one help for me in this hobby has been to hear about what others have heard -- especially if they have heard *any* change at all. Same as when I go to a new city -- I ask friends about what they heard, saw, enjoyed there. It primes me to be alert to things, but it doesn't force me to prejudge things. Anticipation and conditioning are different for me. Sounds like you feel differently. To each his/her/their own.

@hilde45   Years ago I auditioned this amp.  I paired it with Magnepan 1.7's.  On paper I thought this would be a perfect match.  During the 100 or so hours I listened, it's character did not change much.  I found it a bit flat and lacking in bass.  In fairness, I did not have their matching preamp (which was discontinued after a very short production run) so some blame might have been placed there.  After that I auditioned a Marantz Reference intergrated which I found much more pleasing to my ear--more subtle, smooth, spacious, with shockingly good bass relative to the AVA.  Really wanted to like that amp but could not deny what I was hearing.  
Also of note were a couple of small scratches and a buzzing transformer.  So back it went.  Cancelled the preamp order as well.
This is not to discourage you.  Systems are all about synergy as you already know.  But more to your question, I did not note it to change much in character over 100 hrs.

@corelli Thanks for your experience. I don't know how long it's been out. I cannot find reviews for the amp prior to 2018, so I suspect that "years ago" meant within the last three years. Unless it just didn't get a review for a while after it was released. 

I won't be driving Maggies, but I admit that it's capacity to drive something like Maggies was in the back of my mind. I am driving Salk speakers with it.