Propeller Head Plaza

RE: A decebt music session can take a few hours.

129.123.12.80

In Reply to: RE: A decebt music session can take a few hours. posted by cheap-Jack on May 05, 2008 at 08:13:19

Yes, absolutely, although the effects may be minimal in some equipment.

A warm transformer does not perform as well as a cool transformer, and warm components produce more noise than cool components. Accumulated heat also reduces electrolytic capacitor performance. As soon as a system reaches initial voltage equilibrium and operating points stabilize, it should be performing at its best. After 4 hours of use, most tube amps will be hot to the touch. The slight increase in transformer losses and capacitor nonlinearity may even be audible in some cases (a slightly warmer and mushier sound). The best ways to minimize thermal effects are to grossly over-design the power supply, conservatively-spec all components, and isolate tubes away from transformers and capacitors to reduce radiative heat transfer.

Ironically, my "best" tube amps are the ones that exhibit the greatest heat retention -- but my little Bogen integrated amp idles 6AV5s at 16mA each and runs cool to the touch for hours. The Citation II turns into a serious oven. It sounds best for the first 2-3 hours, but gets a bit warm and mushy after 5-6 hours. No doubt the hot caps and power transformer play a role in this.

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