How long does it take to adequately warm up the tubes (power and preamp) of a tube amp designed for home audio?

B

bluegrassphile

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I've always owned tube powered guitar amps. Usually but not always NOS 6L6 power amp tubes and usually but not always NOS 12AX7 preamp tubes. I found it takes about 20 minutes to warm up and "stabilize." I've also found the tone of a tube powered guitar amp to be slightly inconsistent for those first 20 minutes or so. I've never owned a tube powered home audio amp. Do they require approximately the same warm up time? More, less, none at all?
 
It depends a lot on which tube you're talking about.
Tubes like Randy's 6C33's are very slow to ramp up and stabilize.
However as stated 20-30 minutes is generally more than satisfactory.
The other components in the piece of equipment may require more time to reach their potential though.
 
the variable for 'tube warm up' has a direct correlation to ones own personal perceived belief's as well.

FWIW, when I was running tube amps (KT120's) for the initial 20 hours or so of the new tubes they were re-biased a couple of times, after which tube bias stabilized to where they remained as such for hundreds of hours. It was at that point that I felt comfortable with 30-45 min warm ups ...........
 
My all tube amplification system gets smoother after about 15 minutes. If pushed to describe it, I would say the mods become fuller.
 
My pair of McIntosh MC2301 tube power amplifiers hit their stride at about 30 minutes. I generally turn the sound system on about a half hour or so before I begin listening.


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I used to turn mine on ahead of time as well but it still seemed like it took a bit of music playing to get them at the right point. Definitely seemed to reduce the overall time from cold though.

jdandy said:
My pair of McIntosh MC2301 tube power amplifiers hit their stride at about 30 minutes. I generally turn the sound system on about a half hour or so before I begin listening.


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I really don't notice any major changes during warm up of the CJ gear... a slight change during the first half hour or so, but, it's sweet from the start!
 
My CJ never sounded bad, after about 30 minutes or so you should hear like the sound stage sort of open more and a more relaxed sound. Maybe at the end of a CD/album play the first track again, if you trust your memory I think you will hear what I mean. It's almost like a flower closed to the cold and opening up in the warm sun :)

Rayooo said:
I really don't notice any major changes during warm up of the CJ gear... a slight change during the first half hour or so, but, it's sweet from the start!
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I turn on the ref 6 about 45 minutes before I begin listening. also gives me a chance to finish the second jack and coke...
 
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