2. amps-preamps
  3. 151678-83203

Warm up time for amps

My amps ( I have many but as an example in this case Bryston 7b3's) seem to take a good 45 minutes to reach best sound. My question is ... how do I warm them up quicker? Is playing them on a revolving loop or shuttle BEFORE my listening starts the only option? If that is the case does playing at low volume achieve the same results, and/or does playing louder speed things up, and if so presumably the louder, the quicker in proportions?
And in that box, is the ambient temperature (eg summer or winter) a factor? To me, it should make no difference with all that stuff going on inside a confined space,  but someone will tell me otherwise? I could rig up small fan heaters to blow for ten minutes? If it cuts down warm up time by half for example it may not be such a  stupid or strange idea as I think it might be, as it would increase the proportion of "enjoyable" listening time substantially.
I could even be super smart by putting timers on the fans (which in case anyone points out a supply contamination issue ... could be on a different circuit entirely
The amps are rarely switched off.
This issue does frustrate. All that expensive kit not performing at best for a period ....
tatyana69

Showing 1 response by millercarbon

millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
As others have noted there is no getting around the fact it just takes time. One thing you might try is running a demagnetizing track. The XLO test CD has two, and there are others. Basically its a tone that sweeps and/or slowly fades to zero. First time if you've never done this you should notice a pretty obvious improvement with blacker backgrounds, better detail and dynamics, and less grain and glare. In other words pretty similar to what you get as the system warms up more. 

I copied mine off the XLO CD and burned onto another CD with the tracks repeated 6 times, so I can just stick it in and let it play while I go do something else. Few minutes later, all is ready to go. Nice part is this gets not only the amp but the interconnects, speaker cables, everything the signal passes through.
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