wuzzzer Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 I've done experiments with my CD player and receiver where I will leave them on for a few hours playing a CD on random/repeat so that it plays continuously. While doing that I've had my receiver on, although at somewhat low volumes. When I then do some louder listening it seems that everything sounds much warmer and smoother. Generally it seems that when I first turn on my CD player and receiver after they have been off for a long period of time and play a CD right away the sound doesn't seem as listenable at loud volumes as it does if I've had the components on and doing their job for some time. I know that with tube setups many people will warm up their tubes before a listening session, but is the same true with solid state? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 I've thought about more than one reason that could happen but....My experience has been "some gear"sounds better after about 30 minutes or more and some don't and I actually heard a few that sounded worse.The most notable in recent times was my Parasound amp.This amp opened up like you can't believe after about 20-30 minutes.It was so obvious my son and his friend became instant believers that it is possible.My current set up also improves after a little warm up but very slight and you'd really have to be listening close to hear any difference.The 640c also sounds a little better after about 20 minutes but again very minor difference.There of course is a lot to be said for mood and becoming adjusted/focused also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 If your question is "does temperature affect the performance of transistors (solid state)?" then the answer is yes, temperature can affect the performance. The magnitude of this change however is going to be rather small (maybe +-0.5dB) in comparison to the differences induced by the temperature of the voice coils and the temperature of your room (at least +-3dB). I suppose an easy way to verify this for yourself would be to connect your amplifier to some dummy load resistors instead of the speakers. Let it play all day at lower volumes and then when you get home from work you can plug in your "cold" speakers. It'll probably sound harsh like it always does until your speakers "warm up." It doesn't take very long to warm up solid state...like maybe a minute at most depending on how hard you're driving the system (and depending on the amplifier topology). Tubes however take quite a while, and if you listen closely for the first 10, 15 minutes or so you'll hear a very audible threshold shift that lasts maybe a few seconds. I'm sure there are variations between tube amps too, but I think it's fair to say they take longer and it's much more audible. Attached is a picture of how the frequency response changes with the voice coil temperature (the resistance of the voice coil increases with temperature, so the locations where the impedance is already high don't get reduced as much as the regions where the impedance is low): Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted December 19, 2006 Author Share Posted December 19, 2006 Thanks for the replies. I understand your explanation and it makes 100% sense. I guess from now on I'll make sure to have everything on for a bit before any demoing or listening sessions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 Ah, it's not going to work for demoing....seems your own equipment always sounds infinetly worse when you're trying to show it off [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sredmyer Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 I have noticed this to with my setup. I had always thought that it was me (not my gear). As I have noted in other posts, some friends who have listened to my system say that it sounds harsh to them (at high volume levels). I did not understand what they were talking about because it just sounded very acurate and real to me. I however, had most likely been listening to the system for awhile when they came over. The longer my friends stayed to listen the better they thought it sounded. I also notice that if when I first begin a listening session I play a song that I prefere loud it does not sound as good as it does if I wait to play it later in the session. So I had always just figured my ears needed to aclimate themselves to the crisp sound of the RF-7s. I never even suspected that the speakers actually needed to warm up. Even though a large bit of what is written here is over my head, I learn so much reading these post...I love it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyKlipschFan Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 I know my projector in about 5- 10 Min's seems to be clearer, colors richer.. Or maybe it is my eyes relaxing adjusting to the colors...and surroundings in a dark room? If not, I go to the better looking channels at that point. hahahahaha I am amazed in HD, how much of a difference between the channels Comcast has it dialed in. Not all HD is equal. Sound or visually! Movies are almost all the time breathlessly amazing! Tube amps yes... speakers some what??? I look at it like I do warming up a car like your engine or brakes too? In a speaker instance... blow the dust off of them! hahahahaha My gut tells me we all know this.. The question is, of course, how long does it take? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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