Burning in an amp

tsjdesign · « **on:** 14 Oct 2003, 03:07 pm »

Does anyone know if I can help to burn in an amp by playing it into a resistor-based volume control (wall type)? For various reasons I cannot leave music playing all day through the speakers, so I was hoping that the volume control would provide an effective solution.

For reference, my volume controls are the Knoll silent start series.

Thanks! Todd

randytsuch · « **Reply #1 on:** 14 Oct 2003, 04:14 pm »

I don't think the resistor based volume control is the solution.

I am burning in a gainclone right now.

I bought two 8 ohm non inductive resistors from Radio Shack, I think they cost a few bucks each. They are something like 20 watt resistors. Just hook 'em up across the speaker jacks of your amp, and burn away.

Randy

tsjdesign · « **Reply #2 on:** 14 Oct 2003, 04:34 pm »

Thanks Randy - I'll try the resistors. Just curious - is 20watt enough, or do I just need to play the amp quietly (it is rated at 250w)?

By the way, how do you like your Gainclone so far? Did you build inverted or standard? I was looking at perhaps building a multichannel gainclone amp for whole-house audio. I haven't heard them yet, but certainly is cost-effective!

KevinW · « **Reply #3 on:** 14 Oct 2003, 04:39 pm »

I would run it quietly. It doesn't need to be cranked all the time to burn in. Cranking it when you are around and have it hooked up to speakers is fine.

If you do use the resistors... you should test it for an hour or two to see if they get warm. Also, if you want more wattage, just buy more resistors ($.75 ea) and wire half in series and half in parallel to keep the same ohms value.

_scotty_ · « **Reply #4 on:** 14 Oct 2003, 08:52 pm »

One of the more important things you can do it is to turn it on and leave it on.
The power supply caps contribute a lot to the sound you hear from your amp and are the source of much of the objectionable sound the amp has during break in. By leaving the amp on the power supply caps break in even when you aren't playing music.

john curl · « **Reply #5 on:** 16 Oct 2003, 01:24 am »

I'm not crazy about break-in, and I try to design it out of my designs, if I can. Still, it exists, but go easy on yourself. It is best to have SOME AC signal passing through the amp. Just turning it on, helps, but is not complete break-in. You could find more about this from Blackgate caps, who INSIST on AC break-in for each cap. Don't ask me why, we haven't measured the difference yet to anyone's satisfaction.

BrunoB · « **Reply #6 on:** 16 Oct 2003, 04:49 pm »

Quote from: randytsuch

I bought two 8 ohm non inductive resistors from Radio Shack, I think they cost a few bucks each. They are something like 20 watt resistors. Just hook 'em up across the speaker jacks of your amp, and burn away.

Randy

partsexpress has 100 w and 200w resistors.
http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?webpage_id=3&SO=2&&DID=7&CATID=41&ObjectGroup_ID=340