Do you warm up your gear prior to a listening session?

[savatage1973]

In my main system, I have 4 Krell KMA 160 monoblocks (pure Class A SS)--I turn them on a half hour before actually listening. They will run right out of the gate, but the sound does change (for the better) as they come up to temp and stabilize. Some of my other gear just gets turned on and used right now, but the Krells and my ARC tubes need a little time to sound their best.

 

[bobins08]

I usually warm up the electronics (tube and solid state) for a period before I start my listening session.

Obviously there are times I just go to the music room, turn it on and listen, but I try to let it warm up for a bit. It sounds good cold but I can hear it get better as it warms up. This is true for both tubes andsolid state. Improvement in the sound of my DAC is very noticeable upon warm up.

Warm up is real. If I change my cartridge in the middle of a listening session I can even hear it improve, some more so than others. The Grado MCZ stylus definitely improves after the first 5 to 7 minutes of play, it blooms and gets more lush and detailed. The Denon DL 301 takes a full LP side to really sing. My wife hears it too and so have others.

 

[Frank Sol]

Anecdotal... Not sure if its my ears/brain or equipment or neither but the music 'sounds' better to me after about 40 mins from cold start up. About the time it takes to play a full CD or LP. The 2nd CD has better musicality

 

[Taketheflame]

Depends on the gear being used.

If I'm going to listen at higher levels, I like to let my receivers run for a few min at more lower levels. Since I rarely have the opportunity to listen at higher volumes in my living situation, I tend to just power on and go. They're both solid state anyways.

The tape decks, on the other hand, I like to let them warm up/let the motors and capstans spin for 5-10 minutes before playing anything. Probably a good idea since they're both 40+ year old decks.

 

[sqlsavior]

No warm up time.
I will go slow in the car when it's bitter cold though. Give the rubber surrounds some time to loosen up.

...and stop going "thump-thump-thump"!

 

[RumpyLover]

The nice thing about big tube amps is they are up to full temperature in a few minutes. The bad thing is within a half hour, the room is, too.

LMAO!!

 

[RumpyLover]

SS guy here. If turning on for some background music I power up and go. If I’m going to sit and listen, I usually let the gear warm a little while I get something to eat, drink or pick out some music.

 

[dbxdx5]

I always let my Thorens TD 124 run for at least a half hour before listening, as it takes that long for the motor to warm up and the speed to stabilize. As for the rest of my gear, I do like to turn on my Parasound A21 power amp 15 minutes or so before listening, though I can't really say if there's an audible benefit.

 

[enginedr]

My digital gear & SS phono stage stay on and the tube amp takes about 45 min to start sounding good .

 

[arts]

The nice thing about big tube amps is they are up to full temperature in a few minutes. The bad thing is within a half hour, the room is, too.

Oh hell yeah,you got that right Murray !! I'm usually running one of these three,and eagerly awaiting winter

The D70 & VS110 run thirteen (13!) tubes each,but the old D76A wins the count with an entire seventeen (17!) And I gotta say,some of those little guys,especially the 6FQ7s, run just as hot as the 6550's (internet pics)

ARC VS110

ARC D70 MKII

ARC D76A

 

[triode17]

I use tube gear and i warm it up for 15 minutes, here's why. According to Morgan Jones Valve Amp Book, the heaters take 60 sec. to get to full temperature. The cathodes take 5 mins, the plates take 10 mins (for the idle current to stop changing). So 15 mins. is a good time to start listening. The only things that take longer are the transformers, which can take 2-3 hours, but I don't they are critical to the best sound.

 

[Audiofreak71]

I have a tube hybrid Integrated amp (MF NuVista M3) and a tube Dac (MF TriVista 21 ) the Dac is a 30 min warm up as per the manufacturers instructions and the integrated takes a good hour before everything settles in and sounds right . So for me it’s a must to warm up my gear before listening .

Audiofreak71

 

[Denten]

My Luxman L-530 has a warm-up indicator led, it stays lit when it is cold then after 15 ~ 20 minutes it go's out.
I noticed when I was setting the bias, the light go's out at about the same time as when the bias has stopped climbing.

This is what Luxman says about it in the owners manual.


From audio-database:

The warmup indicator is carried, a definite period of time passes after an application of power, and if it goes into the status that it was stabilized also in respect of the tone quality, an indicator will go out.

 

[Gibsonian]

First Watt/Pass Labs recommends or suggests that warmed up gives best sound on their First Watt designs. I try to fire my stuff up ahead of time if possible.

 

[JayBlok]

I always turn my gear on as soon as I get home from work,30 minutes later,i'm ready to Rock!

 

[OMGCat!]

I always turn my gear on as soon as I get home from work,30 minutes later,i'm ready to Rock!

Same here pretty much. It takes about 10 minutes for the bias in my amp to stabilize so I usually turn the system on when I get home. Grab some dinner, a shower and then we're (me and the system) are ready for some tunes.

 

[Mister Pig]

I make the components do a few jumping jacks, squat thrusts, sit ups, and lunges.

But of course I make them stretch first. Would not want them pulling a coupling capacitor or anything like that.

Cheers
Mister Pig

 

[Djcoolray]

Never turn it off....

I avoid the cycle of heating up and cool down, too much strain on the molecular structure of the metals used in the circuits.

 

[Silentnet]

All my schitt (none of it made by Schitt... for the moment at least) is turned on 24/7. Low background draw, not worth turning it off. I was told long ago that the on and off cycles were the hardest thing for most electronics, particularly the "bring up". So it just stay "up." So far so good.

 

[Guest159]

I'm sitting here listening to my modified build of a Pass F5. I leave it to warm up for at least an hour before listening. It just doesn't do what it does before that. I've listened to it cold and it just lacks the smoothness and imaging. About 45 minutes in it just opens right up mid-song.

Warm up is minimally important for class AB amps since they hardly make any heat idling. You have to drive them to get them making heat. Class A amps run wide open at idle. Heat significantly effects the transconductance of a transistor, ESPECIALLY BJTs, MOSFETs less, and laterals very little. To understand what heat is doing to a transistor, just look up the spec sheets. Heat tends to flatten out the nonlinearity of their transfer characteristics. It's definitely something I can hear.
I wouldn't expect any manufacturer to recommend warming up a class AB or class D amp, but it's simply a must for any class A topology. Most preamps are a class A topology and you always want small signal devices to reach thermal equilibrium with their environment. That tends to take a long time on account of their low power output, but it does make a difference I can hear as well.