Hello all,
Could you please share some insight on how the running in period should go for a brand-spanking new set of NAC282, NAP250dr, HCDR and of course the NAPSC?
My question is how does it normally evolve during the break-in period in terms of SQ, PRaT and general stabilisation?
After just 3 hours, it’s obviously too early to conclude on anything but I must admit it’s indeed a bit “forward” as is apparently customary for this setup, notably with the NAC282.
Would appreciate your insight/experience/feedback.
Thanks and best regards.
The fairly standard advice is to select, say, a tuner as input (assuming that you have one) and just leave the system playing for a few days (up to a week) to ‘burn in’. Don’t bother trying to listen to it while this is happening.
Things improve after a week or so but I reckon at least a month to really shine. Hard to explain what improves first as it all seems to happen slowly but certainly you will lose some of the edginess and hear more control and definition.
Weirdly in the burn in of some of my new boxes I am convinced things seemed to get worse for spells in those first few weeks. Maybe just me!
I am always troubled by people who plan their next upgrade before the kit has settled down.
Thanks, I’m definitely not planning an upgrade…because I just did an upgrade! Gotta stop the madness somewhere. I’ve seen many an amplifier and transducer take their sweet time to “bed in” and stabilize, independently of the simultaneous “brain burn-in” as we slowly accustom to the new soundscape and presentation. Hard to know hope at the get-go that this or that quality will improve or recess. Anyway, I dang sure better enjoy this one!
We found 250DR changed subtlety over about a 2 month period before relaxing into end game.
Comment above on sounding worse on some days is accurate, it’s a bit of a roller coaster short term, calms down then settles out in our experience.
Not just power amps, 272 was the same as was XPSDR connected to 272 although effect of PSU burn in was slightly less noticeable.
We’re about to enter burn in hell with two boxes coming out of storage (one freshly serviced) and three brand new, although we’ve trying to get ahead of the game by using NDX2 as transport in temporary setup.
Don’t be disheartened if after an initial improvement it sounds awful for a couple of days. It’ll be at least a month before it becomes consistently good.
I would echo the views that it takes a month or two for the electronics to ‘burn in’. In my case, it was heavily produced rock music - Muse, Foals and later Queen that sounded off - I described it as ‘congested’. This improved significantly with time.
My electronics are the same as yours and I’ve had them just over a year - they were a step up straight away. Some may suggest cabling / power changes, I would advise against this at this point. Just play music and suspend judgement. You have great kit, give it a chance.
I’d say 2-3 months with the preamps taking the longest and having a few rough days. Of course if the speakers and the system are both new it will be quite a rough ride.
If you think it sounds great out of the box, that’s great. Enjoy! But if you think it sounds pretty iffy and bad, don’t worry then either. Many also find that normal to their ears including most dealers but all know it settles down in time.
Agree with all the above especially playing music continuously for a week with iradio or streaming.
In my experience it takes at least a month and Naim reaches its stride finally after 3 months. The more you play through it the sooner it will settle down.
Some days or nights you’ll think why have I paid so much for this !!? It’s worth the wait
@feeling_zen Yes, thanks for the feedback and advice. The speakers aren’t new nor is the streamer but the 4-box amplification is straight out of the boxes. Sounds pretty stiff, brittle and unhappy for the moment indeed. Hopefully all this will settle in and stabilize once more time goes by as you suggest. Thanks.
I have a similar setup albeit with a 300 in place of your 250. I would so the sound became more polished over a couple of weeks.
But honestly speaking, the change was not light and day. I am of the camp that believes if you hate it early on you will hate it down the line. Run in - to my ears - makes a 5-10% difference max.
