2. amps-preamps
  3. 167165-159739

Amplifier Break-in - It's Real

I just completed a major amplifier upgrade from using the power amp side of a NAD 375BEE integrated to a Coda No. 8 and can swear to reality of a necessary amplifier break-in period and the need for a great degree of patience. For the record the 375BEE is a great integrated and the power amplifier side is very good. I replaced the preamp some time ago with a Freya+, a significant upgrade. Regardless, the 375BEE has some limitations and I "needed" an upgrade. I have severe space restrictions for my gear/rack, so size mattered, and final candidates were Bryston and a latecomer in the Coda 8. The Coda had such great reviews/comments I went with it.

Days 1, 2 and 3 were pretty frustrating and I was concerned. My NAD setup had a very good sound stage and rich bass, neither of these were evident early on with the Coda. I thought it might be an impedance mismatch with the Freya (75 SE or 600 balanced ohm output) and the Coda. Some online specs show the Coda at a very low 1K Ohm input impedance, however before I bought I checked with Coda and they confirmed it is actually 10K ohms. Still I swapped out the new balanced cables for RCA's, no significant change. For the first few days I was turning on the amp in the morning and running it all day, but off at night. I decided to have patience, accept the need for break-in, and just start running 24/7. Lo and behold about three days into that process, during which I found some new respect for electronica, the sound stage and bass started to appear and have only improved. It was uncanny. IMHO there was no way I was imagining this change because contrast was so great from the NAD when I first plugged the Coda into the system. I know my system well and changed nothing else, aside from the noted interconnects, from one amp to the other. I realize I am mostly preaching to the choir, but am writing for the next person that plugs a new amp in and does not hear what they expect right away.

In case it matters, the rest of the system is KEF LS50, Gumby DAC, REL 7i sub and Pi 4 with Allo DigiOne running Moode.
zlone

Showing 6 responses by rodman99999

rodman99999
6,023 posts
 
             "Read my articles "Audiophile Law:" =  "TRUST ME!" *

    Many (if not most) of us are familiar the fruits of Atmasphere's aural acuity, experimentation and creativity.

     What significant offerings, for the furtherance of our listening experience  (ie: equipment pleasing to the ear), have you generated, outside of your opinions?  
                 Awards won (presented by other esteemed ears)?

      My own lengthy experience and gleanings from the study of certain MODERN electrical theories aside; I'm much more disposed to accept Atmasphere's viewpoint, based on actual accomplishment.

                                But: that's just my opinion.
       

                             *The Naysayer Church's credo
rodman99999
6,023 posts
 
                        "I must tell you I have great hearing. So there is that to consider."

      BUT- according to the Naysayer Church's, "Laws" (commandments); "Thou shalt not EVER trust your own twisted mind, lest you be deceived."

       Obviously- we all need their guidance and counsel, lest we fall into the deceptions that actually listening for ourselves CERTAINLY would entail.
rodman99999
6,023 posts
 
"BTW, some of you can't help yourselves in applying cynical religiously related analogies. I'm not so soft that I can't take it. But, remember, it can go both ways. I hope you will show the same grace if the tables are turned sometime.  :)"

      If I'm found religiously putting my faith in measurements and theories. developed in the 1800s and found sorely lacking, in the early 1900s, to explain what was so commonly being observed in the universe, or- dogmatically claiming: what I hear (or don't) with MY ears, in my room, with my system and sources, CERTAINLY MUST also apply (ie: a LAW) to another's ears, room, system and sources:

                                                         Feel free to flame!

      I've always valued constructive criticism as a learning tool.     If I'm wrong: I want to know about it and correct my error.

                                            Happy listening and enjoy the journey!
rodman99999
6,023 posts
 
"The bulk of the scientific evidence supporting my faith has developed in the past fifty years in sciences such as Information Theory, Astrophysics, and Molecular Biology that were in their infancy half a century ago." ETCETERA, ETCETERA, ETCETERA.*  

     Which has what to do with modern Electrical Theory (to which I specifically referred), or the hubris you exhibit (ie: LAWS)?

     My higher education was in Physics, QM and QED lectures (circa mid 60's).    I've made a point of keeping up with newer developments and discoveries, ever since.

                                           "I'm not so soft that I can't take it"
                           
                                              Yet: you seem so triggered!

                            *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JHH6iwgIek
rodman99999
6,023 posts
 
       "My guess is you would chew through the math pretty easily."

     Funny, you'd say that!    It was the Math that chewed me up, in Physics.    I pretty much suck; as regards remembering formulae.

     Still: figuring out how and why things work, was always a fascination.

     I found QM and QED much easier to grasp.  Slippery as they both are, they still always made more sense, to me.      When it comes to such as frequencies, particle nomenclatures/behavioral study, etc; no problem.  I find the explanations easily digestible*.

     After all: virtually every new invention, that we've enjoyed for the past century, has been a result of QM/QED study.   HEY: they work!

      Most have trouble, when trying to figure out how all this craziness functions, because they want it to make sense.    That's been the scientific debate, since the 1927, Solvay Conference.  So: we're in good company!

      The basic premise of QM is: almost nothing really makes sense.   
                              (Fits my psyche, perfectly!)

             https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-03793-2

             https://www.nature.com/articles/419117a
                                                                                                                        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applications_of_quantum_mechanics

       When I encounter seemingly abstract, but (to me) audible, phenomena such as electronic burn/break-in, whether cables and fuses can make a difference, etc; I realize that there are a plethora of things, still not defined, let alone measured, in our MOST complex musical signals and a multitude of possibilities, based on what I know (or don't, yet).

            *Ditto: the workings of General and Special Relativity (again: minus the Higher Math).

                     Happy listening and enjoy the journey!
rodman99999
6,023 posts
 
"...Nothing like that could possibly be happening in terms of adaptation to sound over time. No, we are much more consistent than electronics. You wills say that changes to internal parts are the cause. I have made challenges to that argument."
     "To consider the influence of sensory adaptation to have no involvement is circular reasoning. It changes because I hear it! I hear it, so it's obviously changing! I used to be like that.  :)"

       Isn't it interesting how our understanding of the senses has been evolving, based on further study?      ie:  Seems our noses may actually hear the frequencies, generated by the chemical bonds in molecules.

       It's probably why Cyanide and almonds smell the same.   Though their molecules are completely different; their frequencies are identical.

        https://physicsworld.com/a/a-quantum-sense-of-smell/

        https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-21150046

       Click on the thing about, "birds hijacking quantum physics" (in second article), also.

https://phys.org/news/2011-01-quantum-robins.html#:~:text=In%20a%20forthcoming%20article%20in,levels....

                           Fascinating stuff, all around us!
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