How long daes it take your gear to warm up?

My kit is never off -- but a friend/professional sound engineer recently made the argument that the single most important important bit to "warm up" in any system will be the magnets and actual moving bits on the speakers. After about an hour, he argues, the coherence among the drivers and general timbral accuracy will "gell", while before it can be hit or miss, and basically just a lot less than seamless. There is something inherently sensible about this proposition to my mind, I must confess.

So there we are, talking smack and listening to the system, when about an hour in, he give the old hold everything sign, and says there it is, it just came together. And, I'll be damned, but with a pro to put a sign post on it, it seems pretty obvious. So, these days, I usually run the TV or other nonsense through the speakers for an hour or so before tucking into anything serious. Can I get a witness, or is it just me?

Most SS Class A power amps can draw 600 to 700 watts each. To leave them on all the time, lots of heat and utility cost. Some of us most own a power company. All my gear is left on less my power amps. One to two hours for casual listening , four to six hours for critical listing. Lots of Red wine is also required.

Usually 20 to 30 mins to all my SS gear..as the manufacturer recommends.

My CD player is left on 24/7/52 as for the rest I turn on the phono preamp, turntable motor and preamp two or three hours before listening then go for the amps. If I leave town for a day or so I unplug everything. Turning on the preamps and motor seems to let the system come together more quickly and yes it does mean buying new tubes about once a year. Sigh! My amps are class A and they get put on when I am ready to listen and it only gets better from there.

I never understood the logic to leave equipment on all the time. However I do appreciate the posters that state that their sound is wonderful if equipment is left on. Life is short enough and if this helps make life better and your music is great and this is painless for you, then by all means, leave it on. Except for tube equipment which does have a specific life. equipment that does not have heat issues (class A amps, etc.) really won't have a drastic effect on components. Don't misunderstand me, there will be a long term effect by leaving it on. equipment life will be shortened. But, if it sounds good and it is worth it to you, the by-all-means. It takes my system about 20-30 minutes to have great sound. However, I really haven't noticed bad sound with 10 minutes warm-up. it still sounds great. I typically turn my system on when I know I'm going to do quality listening, go do something else,like cook, open a good bottle of wine and let it breath, get a good book. by then, it is good to listen. experiment. Turn the system on and listen immediately to your favorite music. Take notes. Is it flat, no dimension? how's the sound stage (assuming there was one in the first place), etc. Then next day, turn it on and listen after an hour, to the same music. take notes again. Then, leave it on all night and day and then go back the next day and listen again and take notes. Compare and see if there were major differences. That is a true test. Also, if you can get others to help with the listening test, that would be better.

But, unless you want to replace tubes more often, I would not leave tube equipment on.

enjoy