Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Warming up your amp/receiver prior to use....

I was wondering if any of you guys can hear a difference between when your amp/receiver is cold, as compared to when it is at its normal operating temperature?

I ask this due to a couple recent conversations that i have had.. Some of the people have asked if i let my amps warm up prior to listening... Well, i don't, and i don't hear a difference between when the amps are first turned on or when they have been on all day. I usually have my amps/audio equipment on for about 10 hours a day.. Durring the day i usually listen to classical while i am studying, i use the same gear to watch TV in the evening.

I think that this is one of those audiophile things.. One person said that they let their gear warm up for a hour before they do any listening....

for amp/AVR, I don't hear a different be it cold or warm up. However, I do see better colours and black level for my projector after like 10-15 mins running compared with startup.

Yeah, Alex; another of the seemingly endless variety of screwball audiophile mythologies. Capacitors form in a couple seconds after power-on and measurements are normal for listening. I've read claims that between an hour and several months of "warm-up" are necessary.

the only negative thing i've heard was a musician playing music full blast the instant he started his cold amp.
it's like putting the pedal-to-the-floor right after starting your car engine in -30 temperatures.
his amp got burned out output transistors within seconds because of internal stress.

I let my Jolida tube amp warm up about 5 minutes or so before using it, but I use mt Denon solid state receiver cold and I doubt that it would make a difference if let it warm up.

all tube equipment take about 45 mins to stabilize.
can anyone wait that long?

I use a tube amp for some headphone listening and I don't let it warm up at all. At most it might be on for 1 minute prior. I can't tell any difference between 30 secs to 1 minute and the tubes going for 3 hours.

i can add to my previous comment that this applies to precision instruments where they can measure very small variations, like color analyzers (in photolabs or for calibrating a display) where high precision is required.

this would not apply to audio tube amps.

Given that pretty well all recent AVRs/Pre-Pros/amps are never really off but, in a standby position anyway, I would think this "warm-up sounds better" philosophy is somewhat irrelevant.

This was the case when i was in the Navy.. If any of the precision equipment that we had was ever turned off, there was an extensive start up procedure.. But that equipment was sensitive to 1/2 or 1/4 volt deviations..

I think that there will be some temperature drift with the transistors in the solid state audio amps that we have, but i think that the drift is so small that it would be inaudible.

I have a headphone tube amp (Schiit) and a two channel integrated tube amp. The magic warm up time for both amps is about 10 mins. My M22's just love, and I mean LOVE the warmth of tubes. I have a SET amp using EL34-B power tubes. Tubes maybe not for everyone but I highly recommend to give tube amps a try. Plus, tube rolling is a hoot and they (tubes) glow at night.

I was just looking at a Schiit Valhalla this morning online.

I LOVE the idea of a tube headphone amp and a nice pair of cans... but the reality of using them 3X a year tells me the price isn't worth it!

There was some discussion not too long ago about the Schiit Asgard deforming headphones with large amounts of DC current when shut off...I'd stay away from that model in particular.

I have the Beyer DT 990's 600 Ohm cans. The Schiit Valhalla and the Beyer DT990 are a combo made in heaven. I have not had this much fun in audio in years!!! Now, back to my Brooklyn Lager.

Headphones have slowly become my favorite way to listen to music.

If your getting tube headphone amps which will have an high output impedance, high impedance headphones (like your 600 ohm Beyers) is the way to go. They will sound amazing.