The last time my system sounded bad, it had been off for 24 hours. I had forgotten about it when I sat down to listen, it had been on already a couple of hours, but ugh. I kept asking myself "why does it sound so bad?" until I remembered.@erik_squires , When I ran a solid state preamp many years ago (Fulton modified Bravura), it really didn't sound right until it had been on for about 24 hours. This was so consistent I wondered why it was equipped with a power switch since it drew so little power.
So, it's not entirely the beer.
This and my really random/erratic listening habits keep me away from tubes.
We consistently hear changes in our gear as it warms up and its easy to demonstrate. But only an hour is needed- and really its only the first 15-20 minutes in which the gear shouldn't be taken seriously.
In terms of warmup, it sounds like tubes can do that faster than solid state; so I'm curious how that keeps you away from tubes?