How long before your cartridge warms up?

Two LP sides (40+ minutes) sounds like a long time to me. Are you sure this is all due to the cartridge? Was the rest of your system already warmed up?

In my case, using a Benz LP, the cartridge seems to be fully "warmed up" in something like 5 minutes. Initially it sounds a tad bright but it settles down during the first few minutes and I really don't notice any more changes after that.

My electronics are a different story. My tube power amps sound a lot better after about 30 minutes, and I suspect that one of them sounds even better after a couple hours, but it is hard to judge that kind of change over a long period like that.

I agree with all that is being said here except that I don't think 40 minutes is excessive. I did note Mike Fremer at the latest Axpona stating that he finds his cartridge needs about 4 sides before it is at full stride.

I think what I experienced was an abnormal difference in the recording quality of a track on an album which was new to me; my subsequent testing today would indicate that my Anna does not need a wam-up period.

My Graaf amps are another story, the GM200 need about 30 to 45 minutes, the Modena (signature version of the original Graaf GM20) can take up to 2.5 hours to be at its complete best.

I did adjust the VTF already as the warming weather audibly necessitated that change. I believe, that was done about 4 weeks ago.

I give my amp and phono stage at least 15 to 20 minutes before I play my system. I have a zyx diamond gold and it sounds the same from first touch to the end of session. I recently replaced my benz micro lps which needed at least a side or two to sound its best. Best of Luck

Most of the edge on my OC-9/II is gone after about half a side. It mellows for a little while after that.

Hi Audiofun, all:

The fundamental cause is that cartridge suspensions (particularly the elastomer dampers) change in mechanical characteristics as a function of operating temperature, and these characteristics also change with humidity. The temperature dependency is why you will see references to "temperature-stable" suspension and damping systems in cartridge literature from Denon, Highphonic and others.

The 11th figure on the following page compares the temperature dependency of Denon's DL-1000A with other cartridges (presumably also Denon-made).

https://www.denon.jp/jp/museum/products/dl1000a.html

Although "temperature-stable" suspensions are less temperature dependent than other suspensions, they are not completely temperature independent. Some effect of temperature on cartridge performance still remains (and you can see this in the same Denon figure).

In my own experience, silicon rubber does combine acceptable damping performance with temperature stability, but it tends to not sound very good, so you probably won't find many cartridge designers using it.

The manufacturer of your cartridge may specify a preferred operating temperature and relative humidity. Chances are that you will be able to reduce the warm-up time and get better sound overall if you heed those recommendations.

FWIW, the frequency response of phono cartridges also changes depending on the LP groove radius - the deeper the cartridge goes in towards the label area, the more the top frequencies will be attenuated (by enough to be clearly measurable).

kind regards, jonathan