2. amps-preamps
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How long does it take your tube amp to warm up?

My tube amplifier has about 12 tubes and takes a couple hours for it to open up and sound really good and comfortable to listen to. Always wondered why it takes so long for a tube amplifier to warm up and what’s happening during this phase.

If I left it on for six or seven hours would it sound even better? I normally don’t leave it on for more than four or five hours.

How long does it take your amplifiers to warm up?

emergingsoul
lwin's avatar
lwin
576 posts
 

I have a pair of Cary 211FE amps which take an hour to an hour and a half to reach  what I call the Golden Zone. If right from the start I push them hard an hour but if I have company I like to slowly build up the volume so it will be about an hour and a half.

 

tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,032 posts
 

30 minutes for my heavily modified MC240….. vintage 1961

tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,032 posts
 

what might be a better ? to ask is do those big exotic caps and or cables ever form with the relatively tiny signal… ? see DBS patent… and ponder that the application of it might not be limited to just cables…..

chayro
3,010 posts
 

When I had my Viva, it was 45 minutes. Now I’m putting together an Audio Note system and I find it’s about 2 hours.  Peter Qvortrup leaves his tubes all the time I think. But that’s not a good idea for most people. 

noromance's avatar
noromance
9,941 posts
 

Turntable grease bearing takes 20 minutes to "warm up." By the time that’s done, all tube amps (RIAA/preamp/monoblocs) are ready to go. While things are technically available after 2 minutes, sound opens up and has more musical coherence after 20 minutes, and gets better by the hour. After 3-4 hours, system sounds best.

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