After several years of feedback regarding Maraschinos, we have made the following observation....
Almost everyone hearing Maraschinos for the first time notices the increased detail and solid bass that makes their speakers sound bigger and cleaner. Listeners of Maraschinos often claim better sound after a few weeks of serious listening and even continual improvement beyond that. We fully test everything we ship, and we save the results. We have have tested many Maraschinos before/after extended periods, even years, mostly due to upgrades. The test results are nearly identical (within measurement accuracy) before and after. What does this say about "break in"?
First let me mention that the sound changes over the first 15-30 minutes after power-on. This is a slight change, but easily measurable, and it's due to the self-heating nature of the circuitry. The change is inaudible to many listeners. After a few minutes, the temperature stabilizes, and measured performance levels off. This is a per-session change, very slight, and repeatable. I mentioned warm-up since some listeners relate it to "break-in", but they are two separate topics. So, based on what we've observed through use of measurement equipment is that Maraschinos don't require a break-in period.
OK, with all that said, let's cover what's really going on with changes in perceived sound over extended time periods.... Listeners that are switching from less detailed sounding amps, or weaker bass amps, or "rolled off" amps, or amps with poor damping factors, or any amp that doesn't have "Maraschino-like" capabilities, find that their way of listening changes with the Maraschino. They start hearing nuances that were previously buried. They hear highs that were blurred or suppressed. They hear stronger bass and more impact. What they DON'T hear is the noise or distortion that they were previously accustomed to. Over time, their listening adjusts. This requires a bit of explanation. The mind tends to fill in the gaps or imagine the missing articulation in tracks they have heard many times before. This is actually a source of listening fatigue not discussed very often. Going to a higher resolution system releases the mind from filling in the gaps, and this isn't at all like throwing a switch. If you were accustomed to listening that way, it takes a while to adjust, sometimes months. The perception is continually improving sound, but the reality is mental adjustment. You'll find yourself more relaxed when listening. Perhaps you'll smile more often, or play tracks multiple times, astonished by the new fullness of the sound. Sometimes previous tube amp owners say the "bloom" is missing at first, then after some long term adjustment, swear they would never go back to the "bloom" now that they have adjusted to cleaner, more detailed sound. In fact, many tube amp owners test out the long term adjustment and find that they really don't like the distortion they previously accepted, and they now spot it right away. They typically say they'll never go back to tubes. Thanks for reading my post.
-Tommy O
