Headamp Blue Hawaii Special Edition
Jan 13, 2013 at 10:50 AM Post #2,881 of 9,978
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that's at their maximum rated temperature, such as 85C or 105C.  as an estimate, the life will double for every 10C below this.  so if the capacitors are at 50C its going to be a lot longer.

 
Thank you Justin. I understand that I'll have lots of hours to enjoy my BHSE.
 
So 50C would be the average temperature for the capacitors of the BHSE? 
 
On another note, it is said that we should let solid amps on all the time to get the best out of them. I know that this is not something you don't want to do with an amp with tubes. But does the BHSE sound noticeably better after having been on for a certain number of hours, or is there no real difference after it has been on for 3 minutes or 3 hours?
 
Jan 13, 2013 at 12:24 PM Post #2,882 of 9,978
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On another note, it is said that we should let solid amps on all the time to get the best out of them.

 
Who says that? What a total load of tosh. Not to mention a colossal waste of electricity.
 
Jan 13, 2013 at 1:06 PM Post #2,885 of 9,978
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Are you sure you didn't read "we should let solid amps on all the time we are listening to them to get the best out of them"?  That would be a true statement.

Well, I will perhaps surprise you, but I never listen to my amp anyway -- I find music more interesting... But I see your point. Thanks for the clarification.
 
Jan 13, 2013 at 1:43 PM Post #2,886 of 9,978
There have been a few BHSE users that have reported the amp sounding it's best after an hour. My LL took about that amount of time to sound it's best as well. 
 
Burn in is never something I've believed in, but warm up? Absolutely.
 
Jan 13, 2013 at 4:48 PM Post #2,887 of 9,978
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There have been a few BHSE users that have reported the amp sounding it's best after an hour. My LL took about that amount of time to sound it's best as well. 
 
Burn in is never something I've believed in, but warm up? Absolutely.

Thanks for the info.
 
With regard to the burn in question, I have to say that after a while I just felt that everything opened up with my new DAC. Some people suggested that it was me, not the machine. It is difficult to say what exactly opened up.
 
Jan 13, 2013 at 5:58 PM Post #2,888 of 9,978
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There have been a few BHSE users that have reported the amp sounding it's best after an hour. My LL took about that amount of time to sound it's best as well. 
 
Burn in is never something I've believed in, but warm up? Absolutely.

 
Warm-up =/= on 24/7.
 
I would love to see some proper temperature figures from amps as they warm up. I'd bet the temperature stabilises FAR earlier than the music supposedly sounds best.
 
Jan 13, 2013 at 9:50 PM Post #2,889 of 9,978
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I would love to see some proper temperature figures from amps as they warm up. I'd bet the temperature stabilises FAR earlier than the music supposedly sounds best.

 
First things first the power cord hasn’t been discredited yet.
 
Jan 14, 2013 at 2:34 AM Post #2,892 of 9,978
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Warm-up =/= on 24/7.
 
I would love to see some proper temperature figures from amps as they warm up. I'd bet the temperature stabilises FAR earlier than the music supposedly sounds best.

 
Here's an example of two opamps warming up on a small board, dissipating a total of 1 w:

 
I'm assuming that there's a difference when using tubes, but most of the warmup will still happen in the first few minutes.
 
Jan 14, 2013 at 4:24 AM Post #2,893 of 9,978
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The back right mullard has started to go so I have 2 matched pairs on standby which I intend to switch out.
Have a dumb question, not very good at phrasing it so hopefully someone can understand what I'm asking..
 
How are the tubes arranged for 2 matched pairs?
A matched pair in front and a matched pair at the back?
Or, matched pairs on either side of the amp; ie, one pair on the left and another on the right?
 
Thanks in advance.

Hello jigster
 
The best thing to do is to buy quad-matched tubes! Such four-tube combinations exist for the popular EL34 (I suppose that you talk about the BHSE?)
 
Jan 14, 2013 at 6:24 AM Post #2,894 of 9,978
The enclosure of my BHSE takes well over 1 hour to get to max temperature - I've not paid that much attention to it, but somewhere between 3-5 hours is about right.
It's probable that the individual parts inside reach their max temperature well before the outside case does.
 
The tubes of my BHSE also take well over 1 hour to fully "stabalise", i.e.when the 4 measurable bias voltage differences stop reducing. They are certainly still changing after 2 hours, at a gradually slower rate.
 
I've no idea if either of above are factors in some reports that the BHSE sounds better after 4 hours.
 
It's "common knowledge", within the mainstream high end community, that some components take days to sound their best. Which is why many people leave their low powered SS components on all the time. And some components don't even have an on/off switch. Whether the same thing happens to hot running gear is a moot point, because it's plain daft to leave a Class A tubed amp running 24/7.
 
Jan 14, 2013 at 7:38 AM Post #2,895 of 9,978
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It's "common knowledge", within the mainstream high end community, that some components take days to sound their best. Which is why many people leave their low powered SS components on all the time. And some components don't even have an on/off switch.

 
*snicker* Asking for some kind of ABX or double blind test wouldn't do me much good against the weight of "common knowledge" would it?
 

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