How Soon Do You Realize You Don't Like a Piece of Gear?

@lak I'm starting to believe this. I was expecting a lot more depth and lushness, but it just can't compete with tubes to be honest. The detail is great, but instruments and voices don't sound as real or natural versus the tubes. 

@lewm this is along the lines of what I was thinking. Give it around 3-4 days to fully stabilize, being left on as recommend by VDH. Then moving on if it doesn’t suffice.

I was in all honesty expecting to be moving on from a tube phono, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. I had expected much bigger things as I read reviews of the old giant killer rhetoric.

@tablejockey I wish it was a lateral move to be honest. More of a downgrade in terms of emotion and connection. Greater detail, but not cohesive and engaging to be honest. I can see why people use these types of descriptors now. Gear really does unlock a different understanding of sound and connection. 

Also, I've done a ton of upgrades since those pictures. P10 is gone and Shunyata Denali now. Primaluna pre has been upgraded to Allnic L7000. Primaluna Power amp has been dumped for Atma-sphere Class D. Bass traps floor to ceiling now. Vast improvements. 

@whart you and @wrm57 are the reasons I picked up the Allnic originally. Super happy I did as well. I'll most likely keep it forever. I love this phono. Finding those Jeon 5U4G is a major trial and I've almost given up. I've considered the EML's but I havent decide to pull the trigger yet. 

I guess I really should allow more time to settle in. I'm sure electrons take longer to settle in than I'd like to give it credit @tomic601 and I'm sure newer units aren't run in at the factory or I wouldn't have come off this detached.

@stereo5 I actually have had the opposite experience. I read a little about transimpedance and found it interesting and then this unit came up for sale. Fell for it before I had heard it and had to try it. 48 hours now run in and is definitely improving and becoming more rounded and depth has developed some. We'll see if patience is a virtue after all. 

@wrm57 I've rolled a couple tubes in the power supply, but haven't ventured into the higher cost tubes yet. I'll keep those footers in mind. I had originally thought of putting the VDH in place for the summer due to heat factors, but I guess I should give it a little more time to settle@ghdprentice stated. I don't think that's fair to also claim solid state is always analytical. 

@lewm one thing I will give the VDH is absolutely silent backgrounds and no sharp transients or distortion. This this is a super flat freq response and I believe they show the graphs on the website which is cool. 

@testrun that's exactly what I was running from, the summer heat and tubes. My room is small is get overwhelmed with heat very easily. I have class D Atma-sphere's and I absolutely love them, I might just be forced to run tubes on the front end. A Nagra dealer told me to check out the VPS and very low heat as he winked. 

@cfarrow how long did you allow yours in your system? And there was so little information on The Grail, two or three reviews and one or two Agon threads so it was a blind experience. I may be too far into tubes, but again I'm going to allow it to settle for a few more days. 

 Can anyone explain in layman terms what happens during the run in process?

@larryi time and patience is a new experience for me. Most components and changes have been instantly beneficial and no question headed in the right direction. The VDH was not that, right out of the gate. I guess I anticipated it taking the 1-2 hours to warm up and settled as stated in the manual, but that was not the case. By day 3 of being fully powered and left on, I was starting to understand the benefits of a solid state change. I guess it's been awhile since unboxing a piece of new equipment that took that long to settle in and develop. Even my newest speaker cables installed I saw an improvement, then it got even better over a few more days.  

@wrm57 i guess sometimes you just know huh? It probably depends on mood and last night after a day of food and drinks I just wasn't in the mood and knew it. Sometimes it's better to listen to yourself and just move on or take a break and come back later. The trials of time. 

I would like to circle back as The Grail has, in all honesty, settled in a lot better than I expected or have given it credit for. Depth has improved, timber for horns and strings have really come a long way. I can honestly say I'm pretty pleased with it so far. Detail retrieval is pretty amazing as well. Drawbacks are LP groove noise as it's holding nothing back and I won't say it's bright, but the upper frequencies on some songs are a little pointed and direct and I wish that was relaxed a little more. Also, voices are still slightly recessed. I figured I would give it a full 7 days before placing my Allnic back in place to compare and see where I go from here. In all honesty I could probably live with the VDH now, but I'm not sure if I prefer it to the Allnic in all facets. More patience was definitely needed on my part, but other equipment changes just provided more instantaneous changes so I was expected a step up and then progress from there. But we're in a good place now. 

@mijostyn I think I was tolled the Allnic did roll off upper frequencies and did have a darker sound to it, so it could definitely be the VDH not rolling things off and is causing a more honest and strident sound. My room is very small and I am very near field so it could definitely be because the detail is a lot more there and I'm closer to sources with less coloration. I'm curious to see is cabling will impact the power supply and settle things in, but that is for another day at a later date.