2. amps-preamps
  3. 1321932893

Solid state warm up?

I recently Put in a BAT vk-250SE with bat pack into my system to power Dynaudio Contour S 3.4 speakers. I was using a B&K reference amp with pretty good results, but I wanted more detail and subtlety. I got both, but I also got a darker, almost mushy sound. Some material is worse than others. I have pulled the speakers a few more inches from the back wall which helped a bit. The sound may actually get better the longer the amP is on...hours. Could the amp just need to warm-up and maybe be left on 24/7? It does get quite warm. I use the 12v trigger to put it in standby. Any ideas?
phoenix469
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
Daverz,
leaving the amp on or off 24/7 is absolutely irrelevant to this issue.

you can trust BAT specs but only for very short duration and for quiet music such as small jazz band, chamber(where OP describes sweetness of sound). in all other cases you need much more continuous power with OP speakers.

mentioning 'not the best model' implies that there are better ones for the same price range and value. BAT is superb gear but there are certainly a number of better ones for the money spent than VK250SE.
daverz
487 posts
 
I only meant to qualify my subjective impression of the VK-250SE by saying that I never left mine on 24/7.

Again, you've offered no justification for your claim that the 250SE can't adequately drive these speakers.

I've no doubt that the OP is hearing what he is hearing, and like him I didn't particularly care for the overall sound of this amp. But I don't think that any technical shortcoming of the amp can be blamed.
singleendedsingle
664 posts
 
Not needed to leave it 24/7, a 30-40 min warm up is fine.
SS amps get better over days though.
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
It's not the blame that the amp can't drive speakers. Certainly it can, but it's a fact that there are amps that can drive these speakers better than VK250SE and the llist is HUGE even if taken the same budget point.
highend4me's avatar
highend4me
16 posts
 
SS warm up? Tubes yes, SS maybe 15min tops. Your not going to get a dramatic improvement from a warm up. It's probably your setup and the listening room.
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