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ARC SP-6 Warmup time

I just bought an Audio Research SP-6 preamp. It takes about ten minutes after powering on for the power lamp to stop blinking and the unit to start passing signals. Other than that it sounds perfect on all inputs. Is this at all normal? Does it indicate something is about to fail? Ten minutes to warm up is more than annoying.
richardp01
jeffreybehr's avatar
jeffreybehr
805 posts
 
The '6B and later versions mute for one minute upon turnon.
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mechans
3,048 posts
 
I own a modded 6-B which never took more than a minute or so. When I first glanced at the topic, I thought No the tone of my ARC 6-B was always on the colder, analytic side, and couldn't be warmed up by my usual tube rolls LOL!
hifigeek1
770 posts
 
Jeffrey, the circuit diagram says longer and can cause a thump if the mute releases early. The B and C preamp versions have a very long DC time constant and so it takes a while for it to stabilize. If your preamp is releasing after one minute, the cap in the timer circuit is the wrong value and releasing too early.
markpao
519 posts
 
I've had the SP9, SP11 & SP14 and none of them ever needed more than 30-60 seconds to end mute mode. Agrre with others that you should call ARC and send it in.
exocet954
98 posts
 
From the SP6B owners manual. Page 6. Warm up timer mutes the SP6B outputs for 2 minutes after the power switch is turned "ON".
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