Tube amp warm up

[schaefer11]

No warmup. My 275 gets up to speed very quickly.

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by schaefer11

No warmup. My 275 gets up to speed very quickly.

Kevin.......When you say, "gets up to speed very quickly", does that mean you can hear a difference from cold to warm, but it dimenishes quickly, or you hear no difference?

I have to ask because I am also using MC275's, and without a doubt I am hearing the soundstage open wider, and textures of sounds grow more lifelike as the amps warm. Don't misunderstand my comment, the MC275's sound very good dead cold, but their sonic presentation opens up once the amps have warmed.

[AnalogTubes]

I am not an amp expert but when we test tubes we always make sure they have been heated for a least an hour. This is even after they have been burned in 24-48 hours. We can see a marked difference in tube response to testing, that makes a difference, when the tubes are warmed up.

During my years as a recording engineer if we were using tube mics we would let them heat up for a minimum 1 hour. We could hear a significant difference in the response of the mic from cold to warmed up.

All that being said, I've always suggest that you give your tubes an hour warm up time when possible.

[schaefer11]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Kevin.......When you say, "gets up to speed very quickly", does that mean you can hear a difference from cold to warm, but it dimenishes quickly, or you hear no difference?

I have to ask because I am also using MC275's, and without a doubt I am hearing the soundstage open wider, and textures of sounds grow more lifelike as the amps warm. Don't misunderstand my comment, the MC275's sound very good dead cold, but their sonic presentation opens up once the amps have warmed.

Sorry for the late reply, somehow I missed this.

Dan, I don't believe that the amps sound much different as they warm up, they seem to be "up to speed" in a few minutes. I do notice that I tend to hear "better" as the listening session grows, which I attribute more to me "getting up to speed" than any change in the amps, as I have found this to be true even when I owned solid state amps.

[schaefer11]

Originally Posted by AnalogTubes

I am not an amp expert but when we test tubes we always make sure they have been heated for a least an hour. This is even after they have been burned in 24-48 hours. We can see a marked difference in tube response to testing, that makes a difference, when the tubes are warmed up.

During my years as a recording engineer if we were using tube mics we would let them heat up for a minimum 1 hour. We could hear a significant difference in the response of the mic from cold to warmed up.

All that being said, I've always suggest that you give your tubes an hour warm up time when possible.

Wow, many of my listening sessions do not last an hour!

[schaefer11]

I have had the opportunity yesterday and this morning to spend several hours listening to my system. I tried to pay particular attention to any change in the sound quality as time went on. I cannot say that I heard any difference in the sound quality of the system over time.

Differences in the sound quality of various recordings as well as differences in the mixes were apparent from the first minute or so.

Seems I have lucked out once again with my tin ears. No need to pre-heat the amp and I enjoy my listening session from the start.

[Robert_Anderson]

Amps, an hour, the preamp stays on all the time.

[Tonepub]

In agreement with the hour for most gear....

[esteban]

I just purchased my very first tube component, a Prima Luna DiaLogue One integrated amplifier, so this thread actually comes in handy for me. This past weekend I was able to listen to the amp for hours on end and the experience has been extremely illuminating.

Some albums sound absolutely three dimensional, warm and sweet, with vocals that "float" dead-center in-between my speakers and produce an almost ethereal sound that I could listen to forever and is not fatiguing, which is the type of experience I was after, while others left me scratching my head since they actually sound strident, with highs that are too bright, and an overall more "in your face" presentation than what I was used to coming from a Marantz receiver.

So, my question for all of you, since we are on the subject, is: in your personal experience, how many break-in hours do tubes need to blossom? The Prima Luna uses EL-34's.

[two dot]

Most will say about 100 hours...

Your amp is based around a GREAT tube. You might try some NOS vintage EL-34's in that amp. Can make a HUGE difference.