Ceriatone Forum

First post... been researching D-Style Amps, corresponding with Nik, and reading and listening to everything i can find, at least so far.

Going through older posts here i came across people talking about a burn in period for the OTS, where there is some harshness until you run the amp for 30-50 hours.

I'm wondering (as a complete noob) what folks experience with this is and what is really meant by "burn in". What component(s) are actually heating up and burning in.... 

Thanks
Rich

Hi Rich,

A lot of folk wrote burn-in off as snake oil and voodoo.  I'm not one of them.

From what I've heard, caps are the main component that burn-in.  I could be wrong, but that's my understanding.  What I do know, is that the amp definitely has a different feel after it's been on for upwards of 3 full days.  I'd say it's not as stiff and the bloom is more pronounced.  That said, it may be subjective.

Stephen

+1 but not only are the caps burning in but the tubes, transformers, and resistors also play parts in the burning in. IMO anyone who puts burning in the same category as "snake oil" is stubborn. There IS a noticable difference in not only tone but also feel.

Speakers also require break in but that is a different story with the cones

++1
My ceriatone 50w went thorugh a lot of modifacations, only to return to its original design after the burn in period. If you want a 'burned in' sound from the get go, you might consider adding a cap (1 nf) with a trimmer (try 500k) across the OD  'master' volume. This allows you to gradually reduce the top end of the OD section, which tends to be the tone sinner in a new amp.

the components which are most affected through the burn in period are the Tubes (valves) and the speaker(s). these components will change their intrinsic characteristics after being "burned in" and settle.

if old fashion cabon composite resistors are used , then these will definitely drift as well throughout the lifetime of the amp.

its definitely recommended to burn in new valves after changing them, do you dont get any nasty surprises when you want the amp to be at its best behavior during gigs or rehearsals.

capacitors will change, however this will be longer term thing with the ageing process as the electrolyte in them dries out, however have negligible drift during the burn period of a few weeks or months.

When I got my HRM I gave it a very short burn in because I just wanted to get out and play it. It was a bit stiff sounding at high volumes but sounded good.

I decided to do the "Burn In" one day so I turned it on and left it for 2 days, what a difference it made.

A great sounding amp just got better.

The other thing I did to was adjust my Phase Inverter, I read on a post here to have 10 more volts on pin 1 than pin 6 on V3. This also made a difference to the bloom of the amp.

But I wouldn't do any PI adjustments until your amp in well and truly burnt in and all the components have settled down.

  The trannies too, esp the OT.

  At end of 2008 and through 2009, the lams we received from supplier were really fresh stock. Like, stamped just yesterday.

  These require more burn in time, it seems. Sounds a bit stiff early on.

  But after a while, they sound like the older trannies.

  Now, the lams are older when we receive em. Economy is slumping again I guess. Or, more factories here have moved to china.

  Thanks!

Nik

Thanks everyone. You answered by second round questions before i could ask them.