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Tube amp owner here -and- Class D

Posted by AbeCollins (A) on June 30, 2025 at 22:35:15

In Reply to: Qs for tube amp owners posted by tlea on June 30, 2025 at 16:12:31:

I've had a handful of tube amps, Class A, and Class AB solid-state amps over the years and still own my Rogue Cronus Magnum. I've also had a few Class D amps and run one today if I'm not using the Rogue.

In my experience all amps sound noticeably better after a bit of warm-up time but Class D is pretty much ready to rock from a cold start.

My ARC, Rogue, CJ, Cary and other tube amps seemed to take 15 minutes or so to sound good but got better after 30 minutes or more. I had similar experiences with Class A and AB solid-state amps. Some were best after an hour or more. I would sometimes power these amps up on Friday after work and let them run night and day over the weekend so they would always be 'ready' for critical listening.

My theory -

It comes down to thermal mass and the circuitry settling in. Tubes don't have a lot thermal mass but the output transformers do. Typical solid-state with huge aluminum heat sinks have lots of thermal mass and the electrical parameters of the circuitry are not ideal until everything is warmed up. They are still changing until thermally stable.

Class D is the exception. The output devices are pulse width modulated ON/OFF with very fast switching times not operating in their linear regions. So very little heat is generated, and there's very little thermal mass as there's very little heat to deal with.

So that's my 2-cents worth.

P.S. Class D lends itself well to my varied listening habits. There are times that I want to sit down for a 'quickie' listening session - maybe 30 minutes or less. I don't want to wait for the system to sound its best. The system needs to conform to my schedule. But it also sounds great during those hours long sessions.

P.P.S. My favorite tube phono was the Rogue Ares. I had one and thought it was far better sounding than some others that cost significantly more - including the fancy Aesthetix Rhea.

Edits: 06/30/25 06/30/25 06/30/25 06/30/25 07/01/25 07/01/25

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