Vinyl Warm Up Time

Curiously, I am finding it’s only after a few vinyl albums into a listening session that my system starts to sound convincingly good. 

For instance yesterday, I started off with a couple of Billy Cobham albums, Spectrum and a live one. This was followed by Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe. All three albums sounded quite harsh in places, although good sound shone through in others.

It wasn’t until I got to a fourth album, Yes’s Tormato that the sound became really convincing. Then with the fifth album, Yes’s Drama things started cooking. It sounded absolutely superb.

This seems an inordinate length of time for the system, presumably the cartridge to warm up particularly in summer. It has been fairly humid recently.

I have returned to vinyl last year after a gap of five years. I don’t remember this ever being an issue in the past. In general,  I am getting a much better sound than before due to various upgrades to the turntable and the rest of the system.

I am using the same model of coil cartridge, a Linn Kandid that I used for many years previously. I bought the current one used, so it may well be getting towards the end of it’s life. The turntable was rebuilt and upgraded towards the end of 2024.

Maybe, it’s just me who takes a long time to relax and get into the listening zone. I don’t get the same issue with streaming, but then I never reach the same heights as I do with vinyl.

Is this typical of other members’ experiences? Any advice will be much appreciated.