Never underestimate warm up

I was tempted to name this thread the Nth old chestnut.

I know this has been covered millions of times but it really gets me how long things take to really come on song.
Warm up periods are so obvious once you get there and maybe I’m still not there.
Speaker driver loosening up. How long would you say is needed before SL2 starts to sound fluid and disappear.

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My factory-new speakers were great from the start but I think it took about 1000 hours until they were really at their best

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I know there is the burn in factor from new with tweeters but I mean also leaving it stand still and coming back the next day without a power down

I can’t say that I hear a difference with that, but I very rarely have the time to listen for hours, and if I do I can’t remember how it was hours ago.

Coming home in the evening, it’s now great from the get-go. System is always on. If anything changes, it’s more likely to be my mood.
I do think that the TT stylus needs one side to warm up.

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Ok. I agree with vinyl replay. Makes sense with the stylus suspension. I was not referring to that though. Although you could say speakers also need a similar “wake up” period.
For sure also the listener has a bit of time as well depending on many factors.
But overall it is quite amazing the consistencies after long periods of being powered up

As a side question though do SL2 passive crossovers need to be serviced. I was told definitely not

No idea about SL2, but if caps in amps age and need replacement, why would caps in crossovers be different? I don’t know :slight_smile:

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In my experience i don’t think i’ve ever come across a pair of speakers that warm up like a pair of n-SATs do. They start to transform after about 10 minutes or so at medium level, and just keep on giving and giving therein…my Credos were very similar in this case, especially when driven active, but not as drastically as n-SATs. My Motive SX2s on the other hand hardly moved in perceived character from cold to warming up, regardless of how long the session was.

Because most decent speakers use film caps * these days instead of the bipolar electrolytics of yesteryear.

  • which will probably outlast the speaker

I thought that only electrolytic capacitors were affected and needed to.be changed. I had all my kit serviced last year and it made a hell of a difference.

I find the best way to warm up is with the help of a glass or two of red

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Speakers are mechanical devices, with flexible suspensions to the cones. With use there is mechanical relaxation, which can take many hours before reaching the long tern state. Tge louder you play music the more they flex so likely the quicker the “burning in”. But after that there is negligible ‘warm up’ period - conceivably there may be minute changes in performance as the voice coils heat up - but not taking many minutes before reaching equilibrium, though changing every time the average power level is decreased, or increased.

Interesting. I really find they do take some time to finally get into their disappearing act. Not to say that things sound still good from the start. Probably right as well after a long day in front of a computer screen and in meetings etc… the listener ‘coming on song effect’ is also non negligible.
I should say the SL2 was also serviced same time as the equipment with new tweeters. That was about 4 months ago or so.

Dare I ask what category do SL2 speaker fall in :slight_smile:

I find the opposite really although I must confess to liking a quality snort every so often. I do better after getting out and getting some fresh air and exercise.

Good points

I can comment on SBL crossovers. Mine were done at 24 years, and whatever was changed, the bass was clearer/slightly boosted while treble was smoother as a result. The treble in particular had become a bit ragged. Not a “wow” moment but definitely an improvement overall.

Yes I read recently someone had serviced crossovers. Can’t remember if that was SBL or SL2. Maybe it was you that posted that.

I might have. I forget. Getting older!

After a quick search the answer appears to be ……

A mix of both bipolar electrolytic and film type caps.

Well you did dare to ask :blush:

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There seems to be a mixture of responses here, some referring to warm up, which I take to mean what happens after you turn on your system from cold, and burn in, which refers to equipment settling in from new over a (longer) period of time. I would like to think that most SL2s out there have probably been fully burnt in by now!
Regarding when a speaker is warmed up, you have no way of knowing whether it’s the speaker or the electronics that have improved during warmup, as obviously the whole system warms up when you turn it on.

Regarding burn-in (which is not, I think, what you are talking about) I do think speakers need it more than electronics, and not only when they are new. I discovered this recently when I bought a pair of Shahinian Arcs. They were ex-demo from a Shahinian dealer, and certainly had plenty of hours on them, but when I first used them, guess what? There was NO bass to speak of, and this from a speaker that is said to “shake the foundations with it’s powerful and controlled bass output”. They had no more bass output than the little Kudos X2s they replaced. Sure enough, over the next 2 weeks of regular use they steadily opened up revealed, amongst other things, their ability to do deep bass well.

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