Who thinks their gear sounds better after being warmed up?

[walpurgis]

My power amps, whether I use solid state or valves behave similarly. They make music when first turned on, but it's flat and two dimensional. After about fifteen to twenty minutes, it's as though somebody has flicked a 'magic' switch and the whole thing opens up and the soundstage gets more holographic, with a smoothness and lucidity coming in. My DAC does the same too.

[Macca]

I find it hard to distinguish between what may be happening with the equipment and what may be happening with my brain.

30 minutes may be long enough for the equipment to settle down, open up etc. Also about the right length of time for me to relax and start getting properly into it. So I don't know. When I was using valve equipment I would probably come down on the side of warm up improving the sound. With solid state I am more doubtful. If the first few bars of music of the session sound good, it stays good. If they sound bad, it stays bad and I eventually get up and start checking the wiring and so on before switching it all off and having a think.

[Scooby]

Yes the kit sounds much better when it's warm, but I also enjoy listening much more when I'm toasty warm too.

[paulf-2007]

I don't think it's my brain that adjusts, as when I had the PX25's I would leave Spotify running and go back to the house for an hour, then it sounded spot on, if I listened from cold it sounded distorted and thin, so I didn't bother until it warmed up. I reckon speakers need warming up too, especially if left in a cold room.

[Primalsea]

Good to see that it’s probably not me imagining things. The active monitors I have are effectively the preamp, amp and speakers all in one box. When they warm up everything warms up including the drivers and their rubber suspension. But also I do find that I have to be in the right mind sometimes or everything sounds crap.

[wee tee cee]

57s are bloody awful for about an hour if they have been off for a while.

I agree that warming up the room also helps.

I also find a few glasses of your favourite tipple can reap sonic benefits!

[walpurgis]

I know it's not 'psychological' or acclimatisation.

I can fire the system up and hear that it doesn't sound great immediately. I leave music playing and go back in half an hour later and think 'wow this is good'.

The difference is very marked. Too much so for it to be other than real.

[walpurgis]

I also find a few glasses of your favourite tipple can reap sonic benefits!

Some suggest a huge joint can offer similar enhancement. I wouldn't know!

[Pharos]

Martin, IMO you have struck at the core of the difficulty in identifying equipment changes.

It is very easy to dismiss the human psyche as a factor in evaluation of SQ, but a big mistake, and if people think that we are all stable and rational beings who can assess things very cerebrally and accurately, they are very wrong.

One only has to look at the state of the world and most human relations, to see how much irrationality, emotionality, mood changes and health variations are superimposed on our out perception of the objective world, and this on top of our internal biological changes.

[Primalsea]

Martin, IMO you have struck at the core of the difficulty in identifying equipment changes.

It is very easy to dismiss the human psyche as a factor in evaluation of SQ, but a big mistake, and if people think that we are all stable and rational beings who can assess things very cerebrally and accurately, they are very wrong.

One only has to look at the state of the world and most human relations, to see how much irrationality, emotionality, mood changes and health variations are superimposed on our out perception of the objective world, and this on top of our internal biological changes.

I do agree that there is an element of feelgood factor. Whether this be a good mood or owning nice stuff and this can enhance your listening. But overtime I think objectivity bears out. I suspect this is why you see some really nice gear for sale, some people need to restore their feelgood factor, so they buy something new that doesn’t necessarily actually improve anything, but provides some retail therapy.

Once everyone has run out of ludicrous ideas for magic cables and RFI sucking charcoal, etc., how long will it be before we see Audiophile Pills that help you hear and feel far more than you can without them?

Hell, it could go the full hog and there will be special tights and bracelets that have batteries that bias our magnetic fields that no doubt cause distortion in our equipment.

Maybe we should launch our own AOS range of hifi cakes that really expand your perception.