How Soon Do You Realize You Don't Like a Piece of Gear?

@larryi time and patience is a new experience for me. Most components and changes have been instantly beneficial and no question headed in the right direction. The VDH was not that, right out of the gate. I guess I anticipated it taking the 1-2 hours to warm up and settled as stated in the manual, but that was not the case. By day 3 of being fully powered and left on, I was starting to understand the benefits of a solid state change. I guess it's been awhile since unboxing a piece of new equipment that took that long to settle in and develop. Even my newest speaker cables installed I saw an improvement, then it got even better over a few more days.  

@wrm57 i guess sometimes you just know huh? It probably depends on mood and last night after a day of food and drinks I just wasn't in the mood and knew it. Sometimes it's better to listen to yourself and just move on or take a break and come back later. The trials of time. 

I would like to circle back as The Grail has, in all honesty, settled in a lot better than I expected or have given it credit for. Depth has improved, timber for horns and strings have really come a long way. I can honestly say I'm pretty pleased with it so far. Detail retrieval is pretty amazing as well. Drawbacks are LP groove noise as it's holding nothing back and I won't say it's bright, but the upper frequencies on some songs are a little pointed and direct and I wish that was relaxed a little more. Also, voices are still slightly recessed. I figured I would give it a full 7 days before placing my Allnic back in place to compare and see where I go from here. In all honesty I could probably live with the VDH now, but I'm not sure if I prefer it to the Allnic in all facets. More patience was definitely needed on my part, but other equipment changes just provided more instantaneous changes so I was expected a step up and then progress from there. But we're in a good place now. 

@j-wall Most systems, that have no means of loudness contouring, are going to sound too bright when turned up. This is what a system with a reasonably flat frequency response is going to do. The problem all of us face is that the correct amplitude curve is a moving target. I depends on the volume you are listening at and the volume the source material was mixed at. Many older records sound lifeless until you turn them up, way up like the early Zappa and Funkadelic records. 

I suspect your older unit was rolling off the top end slightly.  Anyway, you have two choices, l listen at a volume the music sounds right to you or get a preamp with digital EQ capability. Digital signal processing is sonically invisible. It is the DAC's that sound. "Active" systems are going to be the norm eventually, but audiophiles are extraordinarily change resistant.  

@mijostyn I think I was tolled the Allnic did roll off upper frequencies and did have a darker sound to it, so it could definitely be the VDH not rolling things off and is causing a more honest and strident sound. My room is very small and I am very near field so it could definitely be because the detail is a lot more there and I'm closer to sources with less coloration. I'm curious to see is cabling will impact the power supply and settle things in, but that is for another day at a later date. 

Pretty much as soon as I start listening.  And I don’t buy the “run-in” argument.  If I don’t like it from the beginning, it never changes significantly.

30 minutes. In that time, I would have fixed anything that might affect it, where I sit, what I play, what I might have missed, crossed connections, etc.