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Warm up time...tube vs solid state

I haven't ever noticed a difference on either tube or SS. I was told by a Mcintosh dealer it lessens the life of the tubes if you start playing it without a warm up. The Mcintosh tube amps have some LED lights that go thru a sequence that lets you know when its safe to put power to it.
 
Seems 30 minutes is a popular answer. My Modwright tube linestage has a 45 second lull before it clicks on to allow the tubes to warm up. Still, I like to give it at least 20 minutes. My Krell amp is Class A and I generally give it at least 10 minutes.

I "think" my system sounds better after a warm up, but lots of this is source dependent and mood dependent.
 
I always let my entire system "warm up". I turn it on when I get up in the morning and always give it a half hour or so to come to a stable operating temperature. Long ago I learned that my tube power amps need some time before the bias stabilizes.
 
I won't say that warm up time is a myth because I honestly don't know. However, I have never noticed a difference over time. Every ear/brain combo is different.
 
My Realistic SAF40B tube integrated would need about 20 min and you could actually hear the moment it was warmed up....the sound would get 'bigger'

With my current amp, Leak ST20 it takes about 30 min to really hear the sweetness:yes:
 
No tubes to fuss with here anymore. All SS system sounds just as good to me when the protection circuit clicks on as it does when the beer runs out.:yes:
 
Solid State
I turn my McIntosh MA5100 on, then I turn the network audio player on and select which genre I want to listen to. It takes longer to select an internet radio station than it does to turn the integrated amp on. I have never noticed any difference in sound as the evening progresses.

Tubes
I usually let my Jolida warm up about 20 minutes before playing any music. I was told or I read here that it takes tube gear x amount of hours to break in. I left it on for two weeks to help with the break in. I must say that I did notice a big difference in the soundstage. So much so that I am experiencing a three dimensional or holographic texture like never before. This has never happened with solid state gear.

Is this typical of tube gear, and has anyone experienced this with their tube gear? :music:
 
4Play said:
Is this typical of tube gear, and has anyone experienced this with their tube gear? :music:
Click to expand...

I never have experienced any drastic differences from letting my PP tubes warm up. SET is a different story though, always goes from lean to fat and juicy.
 
Ya, you can sit and listen to tubes warm up. Soundstage goes from small and in the center to way out beyond speakers and behind … over the span of just a couple minutes once the tubes are somewhat warm. Its an interesting thing to listen to. I got tired of messing with tubes, and am pretty much a SS guy these days. Good SS can soundstage right up there with the good tubes IMO. My pre-amp is a class A design from Nelson Pass and its pretty darn good on the staging and imaging front. Not up to the very best of the very best, but very good nonetheless and highly musical. There is a liquidity in the midrange that is hard to get without tubes though … hmmm
 
My SS Onkyo receiver sounds better and tunes in stations better after about a 10min warm up. In fact, I just look at the signal strength meter and when it pegs all the way out I know it's warmed up.

Doing a cap job on it soon so maybe it won't need a warm up after that.
 
A typical solid state power amplifier has a small circuit to control the bias in the output stage. Most of these circuits are a compromise and the bias likely varies as the output transistors reach their long term operating temperature. This will affect crossover distortion.
 
Not being a valve guy I cannot comment on them, but thought it was commen knowledge that they require a warm up period to sound their best.

As for SS, I have noticed it sounds better after 5-10 minutes. I believe this warm up allows all of the components to stabilize at their base operating temperature.

In order to properly set bias and adjust DC offset you need to let the amp warm up and become stabilized. If you don't your adjustm,ents may end up being incorrect.
 
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