Tubes Asylum

warming my preamp tubes

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paco

(A)

how long do you need for your preamp tubes to be ready
for critical listening, after having been turned off for
a few hours? (using a vtl tl2.5: 6350 x 2, 12au7 x 2); TIA!
best, paco

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Re: warming my preamp tubes - mikemalter 09:36:04 03/09/02 (0)
The greatest sonic benefit comes after 15 minutes.
Mike
Agreed, I also have the 2.5 -t - JRH 08:18:24 03/08/02 (0)
-t
Re: warming my preamp tubes - Chris Spafford 08:07:32 03/08/02 (1)
The tubes themselves actually reach operating temp remarkably quickly; for even very low-heat tubes like the EF86, the cathode is as hot as it is ever going to be in less than one minute. The plate and bulb temp usually max out at 10-15 minutes. Unfortunately, tube temperature is not the significant factor in equipment warm-up. As I've said, I'm not a physicist by a long, long way, so the following are just observations/theories/guesses: 1. Gear with electrolytics in the power supply seem to need the most warm-up. It seems like a certain number of charge cycles must occur before the electolytic type cap is optimized. After one hour, improvements taper off rapidly. 2. I've noticed that my ARC SP-6 can be turned full-on (not standby) for days, but it is not until an hour or two of music actually passes thru that it sounds fully warmed. Perhaps coupling caps need to pass a certain amount of AC to perform optimally. 3. The transformer-coupled gear I've heard seems ready to go/fully warmed about 5 mins. after power up, whereas RC coupled gear does not share this quality. Again, perhaps the couplers, resisistor etc. need to warm physically and electrically (passing AC) before they can perform at top spec. These are just things I have noticed from using my gear. Chris
- Thanks for the explanation -t - JRH 08:39:40 03/08/02 (0)
  -t
Re: warming my preamp tubes - Shakey 07:54:19 03/08/02 (1)
My cary preamp has a standby setting, but I usually just shut it off. I would say that at 1 hour the tubes are ready for critical listening.
- Ageed, I also have the 2.5 - JRH 08:21:35 03/08/02 (0)
  That would be true with any tube system.

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