[Spirit]

Hello feloow Klausniks!
Question:
If you happen to shut off a pair of Mono Extremes for the weekend, how long after
powering up will the sound be back to its proper power and fidelity?

[dangerbird]

Having done that myself, I'd also like to kmow the answer,,I read somewhere that the caps would be fully charged after 72 hours,IIRC, I'm sure others will chime in though.Sorry that I could not be more help.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Hey Spirit, I happened to hear a pair of these the other day at "bpape"'s house, you might be able to track him down in the "Gateway Audio Society" Circle.

Bob

[BobC]

You'll get a wide range of opinions....but in my experience I find that 1-2 hours works for me.  Others will say longer, but my ears must not be as good 

[lazydays]

I'd say three days minimum, and closer to four and a half days. Mine became listenable at three days, but you could hear the difference even after four days when compared to three days.
gary

[Spirit]

I'd say three days minimum, and closer to four and a half days. Mine became listenable at three days, but you could hear the difference even after four days when compared to three days.
gary

Hey Lazydays -
Let me make sure that I understand you properly.
Are you saying that after shutting off the amps for a few days that it could actually take 3-4 days to reestablish the previously attained sonics?  If so, does that make any sense?

[Spirit]

As I recall, Klaus once told me it would take several days of the amps being on 24/7 before they "settled in" and sounded their best. I didn't ask why, and he didn't offer an explanation.

TV:
Are you referring to the initial break in time when the amps are new or just having them turned off for a while?

[Rob S.]

Hi guys,
     Would the sound change much if the mono's powered down for about 5 minutes while I changed the tubes in the candela preamp?

Suppose I had some friends over for listening, and I swapped tubes out of the preamp, and we wanted to compare the differences in the system.  If I played the set for about 30-45 minutes then put in another set and did this till we heard 4 different sets of tubes, is it safe to say the monos' would hold their sweet sound till the last power up and down.  How long till the monos are really completely cold and unstabilized after turning them off?

What is a "fair way" to compare different sets of tubes while keeping the monos at their best?  besides over a spread out time frame.

Rob S.

[Spirit]

Rob S:
Very interesting scenario that your paint.  I would also be very interested in the comments of those with good knowledge of the product.
Here is my current status:
Last night I turned on my system after having shut it down for 3 days.  I listened right away and the sound was pretty awful.  I let the system warm up for a few hours and then st down again and this time the sound was much better.
The system has now been on for over 24 hours and I just sat down to listen again and I must admit that there has been a noticeable improvement in all facets of the sound.  Improvements:  Better clarity, dead-nuts focus and image and tremendous control and power.  I swear I didn't hear this last night. 
What a hobby!

[djbnh]

Hi guys,
     Would the sound change much if the mono's powered down for about 5 minutes while I changed the tubes in the candela preamp?

Suppose I had some friends over for listening, and I swapped tubes out of the preamp, and we wanted to compare the differences in the system.  If I played the set for about 30-45 minutes then put in another set and did this till we heard 4 different sets of tubes, is it safe to say the monos' would hold their sweet sound till the last power up and down.  How long till the monos are really completely cold and unstabilized after turning them off?

What is a "fair way" to compare different sets of tubes while keeping the monos at their best?  besides over a spread out time frame.

Rob S.

Sounds like a fair question for Klaus / Alex. I look forward to reading more of this thread.

I note that here in the woods of NH, with the odd nor'easter, I lose power from time to time. If the blackout has been for a few hours, I feel it takes at least a couple days, in my system with my gear to my ears, for my Mono Extremes to get back to their sonic best. YMMV.

[Lkdog]

I am still breaking in my Mono Extremes. Only about half way through the 400-500 hour process.
FWIW, I had to shut them off for an afternoon while I moved the amps and switched preamps.
I think I went out for awhile in between.
The system did not sound very good when hooked up again.
I would say it took 24 hours for the amps to get back to their previous state.
They did not even get barely warm to the touch for a whole day after being off and cooled down.

These things are beasts and it appears simply best left on 24/7.

[carusoracer]

I can not scientifically explain the phenomenon but to my ears when powering down I have the same results as the above postings.

Here is what I do. If I'm going to be moving around equipment pieces and anticipate being down for a while I disconnect my speaker cables after turning off the Amp,then turn back on. I also take another power cord with a long extension cord and plug the Amp into it. This way the Amp is never turned off for any extended length. This is very effective in a Amp comparison as you can always keep the Odyssey warmed up in the Bull Pen...

I also find that "idle" versus "active" is another level of sound quality. My experiments show that if I "play" the Amp at a good level approx 45 Min's before critical listening it sounds better than "idle" to play.
The best quality of sound I have experienced to date is after extended listening sessions over a weekend.The sound is usually at its peak by Sunday afternoon, similar to what many Audio show demonstrators will tell you.
Now if I can just get my Amp back running from Indy with the upgrades

[spacedghost]

Here is what I do. If I'm going to be moving around equipment pieces and anticipate being down for a while I disconnect my speaker cables after turning off the Amp,then turn back on. I also take another power cord with a long extension cord and plug the Amp into it. This way the Amp is never turned off for any extended length. This is very effective in a Amp comparison as you can always keep the Odyssey warmed up in the Bull Pen...

This is a great idea.. I will definately keep this one stored in the old databank.

Shaun

[lazydays]

I'd say three days minimum, and closer to four and a half days. Mine became listenable at three days, but you could hear the difference even after four days when compared to three days.
gary

Hey Lazydays -
Let me make sure that I understand you properly.
Are you saying that after shutting off the amps for a few days that it could actually take 3-4 days to reestablish the previously attained sonics?  If so, does that make any sense?

that is correct. The caps are very large, and this is why it takes so long. This is why the recommend that they be left on all the time. If you turn the amps off (say to make a cable change), they will start to degrade after about a half hour. But on the otherhand they should take much less time to completely charge the system. I've done this several times now, and could hear little difference out to about an hour and a half.
gary

[william]

I have a tube pre-amp, the SL Die Erleuchtung.  How can I avoid leaving it on all the time, while leaving my Mono Extremes hot?  I don't want to replace the tubes every year.  Thank you.

[BikeWNC]

I have a tube pre-amp, the SL Die Erleuchtung.  How can I avoid leaving it on all the time, while leaving my Mono Extremes hot?  I don't want to replace the tubes every year.  Thank you.

I have the same preamp, as you know.  I turn it off when done using it.  To avoid the DC pop through the speakers I have to turn each amp off first then the preamp.  I then turn the amps back on.  The whole procedure takes only a few seconds, not long enough to discharge the caps in the amps.  I wish the pre had a mute switch but I guess SL didn't want to put additional switches in the signal path.

Andy

[kalel]

Andy, thank you for the help.  That makes perfect sense to me.  How long do you keep the amps off before shutting the pre-?

BTW, what kind of tubes do you use when you replace them?  Thx.

Willie

[AlexG]

Sounds like a fair question for Klaus / Alex. I look forward to reading more of this thread

I will have to stand with being safe and protect the equipment and your investment of course.


It has been said may times before by a great number of manufacturers and I include myself (so does Klaus for that matter)...when making any changes (hardware) to audio equipment, turn off the amp (s) first then the preamp and follow with the remaining components...the turn on process is the inverse, sources first and amp (s) last.

This apply of course to the initial setup and connecting everything together, and the corresponding swapping of cables that we all go through! Now, if you are going to swap tubes...PLEASE turn everything off for the safety of the equipment and yourself! When you change tubes, you will still have a period of warm-up as the tubes settle in and most important they stabilize within the circuit.

We have a new member, Kalel....welcome to the circles 

Regards,

Alex

[BikeWNC]

Andy, thank you for the help.  That makes perfect sense to me.  How long do you keep the amps off before shutting the pre-?

BTW, what kind of tubes do you use when you replace them?  Thx.

Willie

Since the amps have a 10-15 sec soft power up before coming on line, there doesn't need to be any time between turning the amps off and then the pre.  As soon as the preamp is powered off I switch the amps back on.  It's really just a couple of seconds total. 

In the SL preamp I am using cryo'd 6n1p tubes.  I haven't done a comparo between cryo and non cryo tubes in this application, but I tend to feel the cryo process generally helps tubes from my other experiences.

Andy