[Fido2]

Totally agree mrarroyo. My SS home system(amp, preamp and cdp) and my tube headphone amp ALL sound better after they have been on and playing for awhile; like at least 30 minutes. Very noticable.

 

[TimmyMac]

My Bijou probably sounds different after it warms up, but as soon as it makes noise the cans are on my head.

 

[-=Germania=-]

My experience has been with different tubes, you need different times even if they are the same tube type.

For instance, I have found that the top D getter 19j6 require very little warm up (2min) while the top square getter needs 10min to get there.

 

[AudioPhewl]

I notice a difference between stone-cold and warm. After 5 minutes of use from cold, I find the sound to be richer and more enjoyable. Personally, I also feel there are smaller, more subtle differences between a tube used for 5 minutes, and one after 30 minutes.

I just leave mine(Stax) on all the time. I know it's not recommended, but I'm not really bothered. I'll just change the tubes out when they are worn out

I use it each evening, so it's not like I'm not getting my moneys worth from it...

SS can also benefit from being warm, IMO.

~Phewl.

 

[melomaniac]

some fussing, but it's never that cold where the amp sits, so I'd say no more than 2-3 minutes, and I could not swear that my ears would tell a difference

 

[pompon]

Depend how much hard you drive your tube.

More bright is your tube, faster it will warm-up. Depending wich input tube I put, the output can be barely bright or very bright.

So I let most of time 5 min warm up ... After 2 min, I listening music not too hard and after a song, I crank it up.

I tend to agree with 20 min to be pretty optimal.

 

[mrarroyo]

On second thought, I warm my tube amps with:

 

[whaleyboy]

Is there a balanced version of that tube warmer?

 

[Skylab]

LOL - Miguel - nice one!

 

[nor_spoon]

According to the builder, my amp runs wide open all the time, so my conclusion is that it does not matter if I wait or not before I start to listen. I might be wrong.
If it sounds better after warming up. Hmmm...not sure, haven't really noticed.

 

[FallenAngel]

I never bother with warm up, yes it sounds a little better warm, but what do I care, my musical enjoyment changes based on so many other things that listening to an amp not warmed up yet isn't a problem.

 

[fhuang]

what's the rush? i don't need to just turn it on and listen. i got time. i think my rig prefer some foreplay, i mean fourplay too

. i always switch on the amp first, then get something to drink, bathroom, then pick a cd or two and listen. that's about 5, 10 minutes already.

 

[AudioDwebe]

With tubed electronics, I've always turned the unit on after work or in the mornings (on weekends) and shut them off before bed. I prefer to not constantly turn them on and off and, with most tubes rated in the thousands of hours, I figure even this way they'll last at least a few years.

If I had to put a time on when my amps seem to sound "better" I'd say in about 20 to 30 minutes into its warmup is when things click.

YMMV.

 

[maxfazer]

15 minutes for my RP010B

 

[Thermionic]

While valves will be working after the thirty seconds or so that it takes for their heaters to warm up I have found that it can take very much longer for them to sound at their best. With my Stax valve energiser it starts off sounding rather poor for many minutes after switch on (indeed when new and first switched on it sounded so bad I thought it was faulty!) and takes around an hour to settle down and make nice noises.

Other valve stuff I have varies, and even my MiniBox E portable IC headphone amps seem to need some 30 minutes to get to their best.

Many people leave their audio equipment on all the time, but I don’t trust mine that much!