starting equiment that ic cold from being shipped

@dekay ​​@holmz  - I feel bad. I meant no disrespect when I said opening them was a “terrible idea”.  It was an in-artful way to open my response and I don’t want to promote discord on this site.
 

I do stand by my opinion that it will be better to leave the box sealed to warm up. 
 

Matt

Opening them up to warm up is a terrible idea. This will expose the electronics to any water vapor in the room and greatly greatly increase the likelihood of condensation forming. Leaving them sealed more or less restricts the opportunity for condensation to any water vapor present at the time of shipment from the factory - condensation that would have already formed as the unit cooled during shipment.  However, I am guessing the manufacture likely packs the equipment with desiccant that absorbs all water vapor present at packing and prevents condensation. However, the desiccant won’t work quickly enough to prevent condensation from an entire room full of water vapor. Keep it sealed and be patient for 24 hours.
 

FYI - my day job is Chemical Engineer. 
 

Matt

@bossa Early in my career I did thermal analysis - modeling problems just like this. I can tell you that it depends on the thermal properties of the materials the amp is made of. More or less the denser the longer it will take to come to equilibrium (room temperature). My 24 hour comment was flippant and was just reflecting your initial post. OMG that’s an awesome pair of components- just looked them up. The FPB is massive - and as you say “ long awaited”.  I would suggest 3-4 days but that is purely a conservative SWAG (scientific wild ass guess). I think this situation calls for being conservative - what is 4 more days after all the time you’ve waited just to get it right?

Regarding open box or not. All air contains water vapor. How much water vapor is in interior air depends on ambient conditions (outdoor temperature and humidity) unless the air is conditioned or humidified. For where @bossa lives humidifying air is common in the winter which would provide more available water vapor in the interior air. Even if they don’t humidify there will be much more water vapor in the air in the room than in the box. That means much more H2O that could wind up as condensation on the various cold surfaces of your components than is in the box. I have never received even a cheap electronic component that isn’t factory packed in a plastic bag with some sort of desiccant packed inside the plastic bag. That plastic bag + desiccant will keep your component nice and dry as long as the bag is sealed. Once you open it the desiccant cannot work quickly enough to protect your components and condensation will likely form.  As I mentioned in my first post if water vapor inside the box was an issue the condensation would have already formed during shipping as your components cooled. I guarantee you do not want to open the box during the warm up period. 
 

@agentwja - what you experience with double pain windows does not mean the water vapor in the house has been reduced. Rather that water vapor can no longer reach the cold inside surface of the glass windows here it would condense (just like on the cold surfaces of @bossa components). The cold inside surface is only exposed to a sealed area that is filled typically with argon gas to reduce re-radiation but it is also dry so there is no moisture ( water vapor) to condense on that surface (the inside surface of the outer pane of glass). The inside surface of the second pain which is exposed to the water vapor in the room is not cold enough for condensation to form - rather it is close to room temperature because of the excellent engineering of these windows. 

Regarding the cooling fins - yes they will work in reverse during the warm up but would only be effective if the amp is out of the box. However the fins would also increase air movement around the amp and thereby increase the likelihood of condensation.