[Devil Doc]

I was very happy with my purchases from AVA right out of the box. Everything was better, and I should know because I've listened to the replaced components for 20yrs. I'd better be able to hear the changes, even with my less than perfect hearing.
Two nights ago however something seemed to change. I wasn't listening seriously. I was playing solitaire on my lap top with the system on playing a live recording by Maria Muldaur. Suddenly I looked up. I would have sworn she was in the room. I thought to myself, "Must be the rye." , and thought no more about it. Last night I put on the third disc of a three disc set by Steeleyespan and began to play solitaire once again. No rye. Gout you know. Same thing happened. Maddy Prior was in the room with me. I put away the laptop and paid more attention. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. More space, more there as Sam Tellig would write. Up until now, I didn't believe in break in, but it's the only explanation I have. I've owned my T-8+ now for about thirty days. Use it about 4 hours a day. Have my tubes run in? I have no previous experience with  tube gear and to be honest I've never believed in nor have I heard any previous differencess with other components other than speakers which are mechanical and probably benefitt from a break-in period.
Anyway life is good and the music is better. Lots better.

Doc

[decal]

Those  moments happen to me quite often. I think of them as reminders to be kind to my equipment !!!!

[modular747]

It's not the tubes breaking in, it's Frank's secret teleportation circuit cutting in.  It only operates when it's sure you're not looking...

[Wayner]

I don't want to get this into another "break-in" debate, but I have experienced a change (for the better) with my new FET Valve tube preamplifier.

Dr. Dean called me last night and we had a short conversation on this very topic. While there maybe a slight amount of tube seasoning, Dr. Dean suggested that it may take awhile for new capacitors to settle in and work at their best efficiency. I guess I liked that explanation, but who the hell knows.....

 

[Freo-1]

Those  moments happen to me quite often. I think of them as reminders to be kind to my equipment !!!!

Yep. I had one of those with speakers recently.  Picked up a pair Cary Audio Silver Oak Model One speakers, and had a similar "WTF" moments after a day or two.   

I had wanted speakers with the SEAS Excel drivers, and these have them.   Could not believe the difference compared to just about any other speaker I've heard. 

I've listened to a lot of great (and not so great) speakers over the years.  These just seem to have what could be best described as a "absence of distortion”. 

At any rate, enjoy the music!


PS: I do think there is some truth to caps breaking in.

[modular747]

There are slight measurable changes with some new caps after some use, but not all.  The most extreme example is the "photoflash" caps Frank used in early versions of the Super PAS Two.  The unit had to break-in for several hours, and if not used for several weeks, had to be broken in again.

[JLM]

Whenever one of my systems (2 audio, 1 HT) has a chance to "rest" for a few days, there is an initial warm-up (roughly an hour - all solid state gear) plus a speaker "re-break-in" that can take several hours to a couple of days.

[Listens2tubes]

Warm up is different from break-in or settling-in, which takes days for fruition.

[mrlittlejeans]

I ordered a T8 Friday and am pretty excited for it to get here in a few weeks. 

Has anyone tried tube rolling in theirs?  I had a Modwright 9.0 for a while and tried different tubes and there were definite differences between them.  That was a few years ago though and I've been out of the tube world for a while now.