Do You Have to Play a Component to Warm it Up?

Vlad urged that users leave it on all the time -- though I don’t like running tube gear when I’m not home (and I used to pull power during electrical storms). That thing did not sound right for a long time from a cold start.

@whart  - It's weird.  I wish we had some way of determining exactly what components caused this.  For my class-D amps for instance, if we knew it was just the input section, or a particular set of transistors maybe those could be kept warm, leaving everything else off, but at 7W idle it wasn't a huge deal then.

Really, @erik_squires? My Lamm SETs like to play 45 minutes or so before they come on song. Ditto, my other tube components.

Hi @whart - I stand corrected and informed!  Thank you. I’ve not used much tube gear I’m afraid. The worst case of warmup I’ve ever had were a pair of Class D amps that took 2-3 days to warm up, but did not need to be playing at all.

Are you confident that the same effect wouldn’t happen if you left your gear on longer?

Also, when I said speakers, I was really talking about breaking them in, both drivers and caps seem to need it, but not really warming them up.

Speakers yes, amps no