Signal or load required for break-in?

Yeah, Sean. Sorry about the Al Gore line. I'll stop whippin' that dead horse. Forgot just how straight-faced a delivery this venue provides. I appreciate the info from Bob and yourself. Have a feeling the details of this break-in scheme are a bit over my head, and quite frankly, I'm not really inclined to risk my not-yet-delivered Stratos monos. I'd hate to short something. Klaus is a very fine gentleman, but my warranty would be toast also. I'm a woodworker not a solder-slinger. I'll prolly jus mellow 'em out the old fashioned way. But I have learned something, and may, therefore, take the rest of the day off. Thanks all.

"TVC15" - Sean what a great old rockin' Bowie tune; should make for some good breakin' jams!
Now for those dummy loads that Tvc wants to build... I use 20 watt Ohmite wirewounds in a series-parallel arrangement to achieve an 8 ohm measurement-load in my shop, but for this purpose I'd want a lower resistance network. 4 ohms is a nice number but that value may not be available in high power at RadioShaft? I don't know what resistance values they have available & in stock without looking it up, & I'm not about to attempt teaching Ohm's law here on a forum.
Tvc try to get a quantity 16ea. (16 for each channel & you have four total channels) of 5 ohm power resistors, preferrably wirewounds or ceramics rated 5 or 10 watts apiece, although 5 watts would be acceptable. Just get whatever you can find easily as it is not all that critical. Solder up four strings ea. of 5 ohms R's in series. Now solder those 4 strings parallel to each other, to achieve a 5 ohm load network. The leads in between the series R's strings must not touch each other, only the ends of the strings can connect together. Attach some 18 gauge stranded copper wire pigtails, then crimp or solder some spade lugs that will fit your amp's binding posts. While fabricating, you could use some stripped THHN insulation or tubing etc. as spaghetti for insulation on the network's leads to prevent short circuits. It must withstand a LOT of heat, so if you build carefully then insulation may not be needed & in fact could melt & burn, so watch out! If you use 5 watts R's then you'll have an 80 watt load, or if using 10 watt R's then it's a 160 watt load which is plenty for this job.
Now as you apply the (test signal) or music signal into the amp, it will of course begin to output power relative to the applied input level. DO NOT get carried away such that you go into clipping. If you don't have an oscilloscope, be very careful as input drive is gradually increased. The resistor dummy load will begin to warm up; it can be warm, in fact it will get hot & that is OK. But too much power will burn up the amp or the network or both, so use caution & err on the low side especially if you don't have a meter or scope to monitor your output power levels. Also: place the dummy loads on a glass dish or ash tray so you don't burn up your workbench.
Sorry for the length of this post I'm trying to be reasonably specific without going on & on...

Aragain, i think that TVC knows that and was just "having fun" at Al's expense.

As to my comment about "breaking in" gear exclusively with David Bowie tunes, "TVC 15" is the name of one of his songs. I didn't want someone else that didn't know that to think that i was SERIOUSLY recommending that : ) Sean
>

TVC - Al Gore has nothing to do with the internet. Thank your friends in the military who didn't want to have a bad day if Chicago got nuked. With the internet they could just switch to the computers in New York instead.

This is not a joke. Look up the history for yourself.

First of all, you need to play ALL David Bowie tunes when breaking something in.... : )

If you're going to feed a signal into the amp, you will need WAY higher power resistors than what i was thinking. My suggestions were based on letting the unit idle with no signal applied. I specified 16 ohm resistors as this would decrease the current delivery from the amp if a stray RF based signal "wandered" into the amp and was amplified. I should have also stated that inserting "shunts" into the amplifier inputs might be a good idea also.

If you are going to feed the signal from a receiver into the amp, the receiver would have to have preamp level outputs on it. DO NOT hook up the "tape out" to the input of the amp as it would smoke the load resistors that you install.

Secondly, you would need to hook up several low power resistors in parallel to handle a reasonable amount of power or just pick up two high power resistors. Contrary to popular belief, wire wound or "inductive" resistors are FINE for an audio dummy load. After all, the amplifier would be driving BIG inductors in a normal speaker system ( voice coils, crossover coils, etc...). Look for something that is rated for at least 10 watts apiece or rig up some 5 watters in parallel or series ( depending on what value you get ).

If you want specifics on part numbers, etc.. let me know. I'll do what i can to give you a list. Just make sure that the receiver does have the proper jacks before doing anything else. Sean
>

Bob and Sean- How exactly do I set up the resistors and what would I buy? All Rat Shack available? I could us an old Kenwood receiver as a source. Would the use of resistors equal or approximate the load created by the speakers? If it's approx equal, this might be a good way to break-in amps without creating a noise source. Thanks again. (I silently thank Al Gore daily for creating this instant source of information for all of us.) -Tom.

While i basically agree with Bob's comments / approach, i will add that internal components / circuitry WILL settle "somewhat" simply due to bias voltage and heat being present. While i would always prefer to break something in under load, just letting SS components "idle" can "ease" some of the break in time.

My suggestion is to connect some 16 ohm resistors across the speaker jacks and turn the unit on and leave it on. After you've had the unit on for 36 - 48 hours, turn the unit off and leave it off for a few hours. Then fire it back up, run for several hours or a day, etc.. then turn it off and let it heat down again. Do this as often as you think about it. This will thermally cycle the unit and subject all of the circuitry to what is called "in-rush current" every time you cycle the unit off and on. It should help to speed up the process once you really do begin to use it. Sean
>

Without a signal, you will do little more than warm up the units. Bob_bundus has the right idea... maybe use an FM signal or a CATV music channel as a continous source. Hope your move goes well!

Tv you need to have a music signal applied to the amps for breakin to occur; might as well leave them boxed up otherwise. You should load them with 4 ohm or 8 ohm dummy load resistor networks (if not using speakers) apply power via the AC cords you'll be using, drive them with a variable output source component via the interconnects you'll be using, & even possibly add in the speaker cables. Everything can be burned in simultaneously via that approach, but yes, music signal must be present