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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. 

newton_john
larryi
4,326 posts
 

Did you go back to the first albums you played in a session to confirm that they sound better after the several hour warmup?  Even that basic test is, of course, not really strong verification, but, it is at least better than comparing the sound of playing different records?  Have you tried recording the playback of the same record to directly compare the sound of first play and play after several hours?

It might be the case that what is warming up is not only the gear, but the listener as well, so it is hard to trust such judgment.  I am not saying you are wrong on how long it takes for your system to warm up, I am just saying it is hard to verify that this really is the case.

newton_john OP
174 posts
 

@mahler123 

I am using a Linn Urika II phono stage. Thank you.

newton_john OP
174 posts
 

@larryi 

 

Thanks for the suggestions.

Yes, I have tried replaying the first records again and they usually sound better once the system is warmed up.

In the past, I’ve always been sceptical about warm up. But it does feel like a real thing. Maybe, it is all psychosomatic or a matter of getting in the right state of mind for listening.

A curious thing, it doesn’t appear to apply to streaming.

I’ve seen mention it it taking a side to warm up, but never a few albums, 

hoytis
115 posts
 

Be honest, was whiskey involved in this at all?

larryi
4,326 posts
 

Yes, it is hard to dismiss the possibility that the benefits are all in one's head, but, it might well be that it takes quite a while for a cartridge suspension to soften from use or physically warming up.  The suspension becoming more compliant from use could not only affect the sound, it could make the cartridge track better and also affect the resonant characteristic of the tonearm/cartridge system and this too can affect tracking and other behavior. 

The difference between your experience and most other listeners is, as you stated, how long you must play records before you seem to reach optimum performance.  I tend to not listen that critically so I don't try to listen for improvement beyond the first ten minutes or so of play where the sound becomes good enough for my ears.

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