[Spirit]

What is the fastest and most efficient way to break in my new Monos.
Right now I am leaving a CD on repeat 24 hours a day, but obviously at
very low volume.
Is there a better way?

[djbnh]

I used an older dual deck cassette deck except for the times I wanted to sit and listen (saves wear-n-tear on the cd player), and very healthy volume levels. I'm not sure low volume is the way to go (you can always throw blankets over the speakers, etc.). Also, you might want to just play, enjoy, note the changes burn-in brings, etc. My burn-in period was about 400 hours, which also coincided with the recommended burn-in for the aftermarket power cords I run on the Extreme Monos. YMMV.

Happy listening.

[Spirit]

I used an older dual deck cassette deck except for the times I wanted to sit and listen (saves wear-n-tear on the cd player), and very healthy volume levels. I'm not sure low volume is the way to go (you can always throw blankets over the speakers, etc.). Also, you might want to just play, enjoy, note the changes burn-in brings, etc. My burn-in period was about 400 hours, which also coincided with the recommended burn-in for the aftermarket power cords I run on the Extreme Monos. YMMV.

Happy listening.

Thanks.
BTW what cords did you get to replace the stock ones?

[Jim N.]

I ran a music station from by digital cable when I was not directly listening to music to spare the wear and tear on my player. Also, enjoy listening to it! It sounds good and keeps getting better. It never hurts to give it a good workout with dynamic recordings and a loud volume.

I have run MAC Sound Pipes and Black Sand Arctic Blue to good effect on my Stratos.

Klaus runs all Groneberg PC at the shows.

BTW- It was nice meeting you, Spirit (in the Bolder Cable room).

[djbnh]

BTW what cords did you get to replace the stock ones?

VH Audio cryoed Flavor 4 PCs

[sts9fan]

Why not just listen to music and not worry about break-in? Just a thought

[undertow]

You could run at a pretty high level, point the speakers at the wall with blankets over them... I will say I left my odysseys on for about 4-5 months straight with power all day after I ran them for about 2 weeks with music thru them and things started to happen...

[Wayne1]

Do you want to listen to them during break-in?

THE most efficient way to break in the amps is to put connect them to some VERY large load resistors, like 250 watts @ 8 ohms.

Feed the amps a wide bandwidth signal, like the FryKleaner offered by Jim Hagerman. Measure the output voltage and set the input level so you end up putting out about 8 watts continuous. Keep this up for at least a week if not two.

For something a bit less complicated, hook the amp up to a pair of speakers in a location other than your listening room. Point the speakers directly at each other with the front of the speakers almost touching. Wire up the speakers so that one amp channel to speaker is in-phase ( + to +, - to -). Wire the other amp channel to the other speaker with inverted phase (+ to -, - to +). Cover the speakers with some heavy blankets and play a wide range mono signal. Pink noise, or any of the various break-in tracks from Stereophile, etc.

This will get the job done quicker, but you would not be able to hear exactly what changes the amps go through.

It is sometimes a PITA but I think you will find the changes very educational.

Spirit, It was a pleasure to meet you at RMAF. I hope you have had most of your questions answered by listening to the various systems and talking to the different vendors.

[lazydays]

here's what I did with the two amps, but it may not be the best setup, but it worked for me. I used a solid state preamp that had a tuner built into it, and just set it up to play a rock & roll station 24/7. Worked for me, but would never do that with one of my tube preamps.
    In the past I've done the same with a cd player playing 24/7, but still wont do this with a tubed cd player as well.
gary