Quote:
Originally posted by fewtch
Interesting you feel modern solid-state equipment (particularly op-amp based stuff) takes time to "warm up." I'd agree with tube-based equipment, but have my doubts with SS gear (at most, it's gotta be a few seconds for even the biggest caps to charge fully). My ears tend to bear me out on this, but maybe there's something I'm missing...
P.S. re your choice of op-amps for the Chiarra... nice to see you chose the AD823AN. I share your liking of the Analogue Devices sonic signature (with the Mint and Meta42 anyway)... just so sweet, liquid and satisfying. Seems the AD8610/20 have fallen out of favor with the advent of the PPA, but my ears refuse to follow trends . |
Hi fewtch,
I have always found solid state equipment to sound "cold" and clinical whenever it's first switched on. If I let it warm up for an hour or two and then go back to listening to it it's immediately obvious that the sound has become a lot better, it actually sounds "warmer" if that makes any sense?
"Burn in" should probably be renamed "break in" Burn in is what some manufacturers do to test the circuits to the limits before passing them in QC. They "soak test" the circuits under extreme heat conditions for say 48 hours and stress the components way beyond anything experienced during everyday operation. If the device passes this test it is sent out to the customer. I worked for a company in the early 90's and their soak test failure rate was about 25%. The circuit would go to the fault finding section and the failed component would be replaced and then the circuit would go in for a second 48 hour soak test. I can tell you from experience, a human wouldn't survive for 48 hours in the soak test room it was b*stard HOT!! The majority of failures were capacitors.
"Break-in" is an entirely different thing. It takes time establishing the electron flow on the PC board, it takes time for capacitors to "fully" charge and reach a stable operating condition etc. I believe that "break-in" is a fact and it's something that happens with everything, not just Hi-Fi...... shoes, cars, hats, drums, gloves, lawnmowers,,,,, you name it. I must rename that page to "break-in"
The AD823 was superb in the Chiarra fewtch but I'm now using OPA627 BP's on a browndog which sound a bit better. I put this down to a seperate op amp for each channel as opposed to the all in one dual chip. The difference is not night and day though but after prolonged listening the 627's won me over
Pinkie. (breaking in a new keyboard and mouse)