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How long does it take your tube amp to warm up?

My tube amplifier has about 12 tubes and takes a couple hours for it to open up and sound really good and comfortable to listen to. Always wondered why it takes so long for a tube amplifier to warm up and what’s happening during this phase.

If I left it on for six or seven hours would it sound even better? I normally don’t leave it on for more than four or five hours.

How long does it take your amplifiers to warm up?

emergingsoul

Showing 2 responses by ghdprentice

ghdprentice
6,491 posts
 

It takes 3.5 minutes…. The time it takes for the soft startup to complete and the amp to switch on. 
 

I used to experience a long warmup for my Audio Research REF 5SE preamp… it took about 12 minutes with signal running through it, and the improvement was substantial. But with the REF 6, that has gone away… sounds great as soon as the 1.5 minutes of soft startup is over and the mute comes off.

ghdprentice
6,491 posts
 

Tubes undergo less wear when not under load so will last longer, but I don’t think any manufacturer would recommend leaving them on: fire hazard and a really short tube life. 

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