does your system "warm up" and then sound better?

Timrhu brings up a good point.

"I turn my equipment on a few minutes before listening and turn it off when I'm finished. The cdp stays warm to the touch in standby so I don't think it needs any warm up time. The amp warms up in 10 minutes or so."

A lot of equipment goes into standby mode when you hit the power button and not turn off completely. Its like a best of both world approach. Some parts stay on and some shut off completely. My Ayre amps do this.

I asked the question "do speakers warm up too?" a long time ago in the forums.
i "preheat" my amp, preamp, & cdp for 30-45 minutes before listening just like many people do. but after listening to a cd for the hour or so of music on it, i strongly feel that the last 10 minutes or so seems more involving, fuller; the illusion of real musicians playing becomes more powerful. So this can be related to a psychological factor where my senses and/or brain receptors become more acute over time, or the system does indeed seem to reach an equilibrium after going through its paces for a prolonged span of time. perhaps BOTH factors are at work at the same time.
Eating chocolate cake results in enjoying it less and less after you've had two pieces, but listening to music gets to be more fun over time (for me anyway).
i have ALSO discovered (which is true for just about everyone i think) that music
I didn't understand at first (and therefore didn't like very much) is now material i reach for again and again. Brahms for example- couldn't get into it for a long time. Now i don't understand why that is. Our brains and our musical sensitivities improve more and more with every listening. Along with our tweeters and woofers...maybe....

Totally! I have a tube amp and pre-amp. I turn all system power on, except for the turntable, pour some beer, choose some records, clamp down the first record onto the platter, turn on the turntable, and start listening. Somewhere in the second record, the system settles in and sounds really sweet and focused.

It is uncanny; I can hear when my system gets warm, and starts to sound really good. It becomes really involving at that point.

As I have tubes, I don't leave the power on 24/7. If I had solid state, I might depending on the warm up time, or how long it takes to sound really sweet and involving. When I worked in the high-end shops, we left solid state on 24/7. Speakers with power supplies, such as Quad ESL-63s got left on, too. My only concern if I had solid state would be paying for electricity to run the amps when I am not listening.

Cheers!