I wonder what this "breakdown rate" might actually be? I've been an audio fan and pro musician/soundman since 1967 and I personally haven't experienced much breakdown at all...and the perception of things sounding better after sometimes hundreds of hours of warmup seems more like a design flaw than otherwise, although since it's a fact of life among respected gear reviewers who hear much more stuff than I even will, I will allow it. "Mister nice guy!" My gear goes on as background music when I read my morning paper, and often stays on all day...maybe it's warming up and I didn't know it, but I haven't noticed much, if any, difference.