I am considering trying the new Stellar DAC/preamp and the S300.
I understand that these components take quite a while to break in. I was wondering whether it matters how loud the music is playing when it comes to breaking these electronics in, or whether you can just put a CD on repeat and play it relatively softly all day long to get the same burn in effect?
By the way, for the fun of it, my very first amplifier in my very first real stereo system in the mid-1980s was a PS Audio Elite Plus integrated. The proverbial blast from the past. And it never broke down - I sold it to someone about 10 years ago and other than needing some cleaning of the volume pot and push buttons, it just played and played for 20 years.
I’ve broken in new Stellar amps using my desktop Harbeth setup in my office. I listen at very low levels and sit 2-2.5 feet way from them.
So they can be broken in at low levels although there’s a chance higher levels will result in a faster break in period. Perhaps some others will chime in with their experiences.
Thanks for sharing the history on your Elite Plus! We design our gear with the requirement that it lasts decades so even though that integrated is 30+ years old, I’m sure it still has plenty of musical joy to give!
In my second system, I hooked my M700’s directly to my NuWave DSD DAC, used digital volume control (pre-amp has tubes so avoided the wear and tear) on the server app I use with that system, and let them run at very low level for a couple weeks (or more). Most of the improvement was fairly early on but I didn’t do much critical listening during this period.
And welcome to the forum! Let us know how it goes.
Darren Myers said
Thanks for sharing the history on your Elite Plus! We design our gear with the requirement that it lasts decades so even though that integrated is 30+ years old, I'm sure it still has plenty of musical joy to give!
Thanks for the reply.
+1 on the Elite Plus build quality. When I brought it to the local stereo repair shop for service, the tech who owned the shop (and only needed to spray away some oxidation on some contacts and switches) grinned at the innards of the amp. “Look at all that hand wiring! Who builds stuff like that anymore?”
In my second system, I hooked my M700’s directly to my NuWave DSD DAC, used digital volume control (pre-amp has tubes so avoided the wear and tear) on the server app I use with that system, and let them run at very low level for a couple weeks (or more). Most of the improvement was fairly early on but I didn’t do much critical listening during this period.
And welcome to the forum! Let us know how it goes.
Thanks for the warm welcome.
I would be comparing the PS units to a similar piece of gear I recently bought but am not sure I am “feeling the love” for.
My M700s were delivered a couple weeks ago. Since my system is in a finished basement I played the radio through the system at a volume you couldn’t hear upstairs, 24/7 for 8 days, at least when I wasn’t listening to them. That seemed to help them settle in a lot. Now I’ve had them for about 3 weeks. I think I still hear subtle changes but it could be my imagination. I was told power cords break in as well. Since they were added at the end of the week I could be hearing that. Either way, the M700s made a big enough improvement over my Adcom GFA 555 that I knew I’d be keeping them long before they were broken in. I’ve very happy with them.
