tube warm up if any


ok so I the mail today came my Pro Ject Tube Box II. This is my first tube product. My questions are:

1. How long should I let the tubes warm up?

2. Are there any other tube that are recommend that i should pay around with? or is this too soon to ask since I haven't even broke the stock tubes in yet?

I can immediately say that the vocals jump out and are much more coherent than what I was using. Background production of most songs are more refined and detailed.

Looking forward to this tube world I'm afraid, "Just when I thought I was done they pull me back in". Does it ever stop?

Oh and comment on the other post about the boomy bass, it fixed with the help of all my fellow Audiogoner's.

Thank You!

Kev
128x128thegoldenear
My opinion (and that's all you'll get because nobody can answer with certainty, regardless what they tell you):
If you let the tubes warm up for 5 - 15 minutes you'll be most of the way there. Depending on the rest of your system, you'll probably hear a difference after that but I doubt it will be much.
I'm not a big believer in break in for most things, but for tubes my experience tells me that you'll still be breaking those tubes in for more than a week, maybe more than a month depending on the circuit they're in and how much you play it.
for small signal 5 min is plenty enough as well as for most large signal tubes. large rail dc caps have to be 'filled up' that might take more time but not in the case of a small signal component.
don't mind to turn the tube component off when not listening. you'll increase tube life and equipment safety.

Regarding warm up I echo the others about 5 or 10 minutes. With regard to rolling tell us what tubes it currently uses? It is a 12AX7 is it not?
Get to know you current tubes first.That way you'll have some sort of baseline to compare other tubes to.Just my opinion,nothing more.Good luck.
Get your tubes broken in first. I've seen recommendations of up to 300 hrs for burn in. Most average time is 200 hrs. Depends on the manufacturer of the tube.

I'm I tube nubie too. Just got my first tube integrated 3 weeks ago. Prior to that I was fortunate enough to demo an unit for 4 days with 3 sets of tubes. The tubes were KT88's - 6550's - and EL34's. They were all different sounding and could not pick a favorite. So I added the other 2 and have all 3 sets (all factory stock). Just crossed the 250 hr mark on my KT88's and will roll in the 6550's at 300 hrs. I think I have a good feel for the KT88's and like them but that's the only one I have listened to since getting it. So I have a reference point.

As far as warm up for me my unit has soft start and only takes about 5 min. When I do power off the unit and let the tubes get completely cold it takes about 10 - 15 min to sound good. Either way again for me after 2 hrs they don't get any better.

That's my experience so far.
I agree with the 200 hours - my amp continued to sound better and better over that time. As for the daily use, I find that my amp sounds significantly better after it has been on about 90 minutes.