Break in period


I have just acquired the Conrad Johnson CT5 preamp and CJ LP70S power amp. Would appreciate inputs /advice of fellow a'goners regd optimal break in period and is the break in period dependent on playback volume or amount of
gain. The reason I ask is coz a Stereophile review of the CT5(July 2006 ?)mentioned that the preamp was left in continous play mode for a week, that translates to 150 hrs.Given that i listen max 2hrs/day and more on weekends, that translates to a break in period of nearly 2 1/2 months !!
Have huge issues leaving the system running 24/7 coz of erratic power supply and neighbour's privacy etc
Would appreciate any/all advice
Cheers
128x128sunnyboy1956
Gregm,

IMHO, although high damping factors is a "pushed" feature of SS amps....I think it is really over rated.

Frankly the driver Qes and Qms coupled with the box design almost entirely dominates driver response...above a damping factor of about 5 a higher damping factor really makes almost negligable difference to the driver response, as the voice coil and magnet size dominate the driver electrical damping. (A good speaker design should be as close to critically damped as can be achieved given a host of other compromises)

I suspect most differences heard with low damping factors are more related to frequency presentation, as a high output imepdance device acts as a filter when coupled with a variable load (speaker)....
After retubing of the PH5 with 4 matched 6922EH (purchased directly from ARC) the magic of the PH5 sound is still there, but i had to turn up the volume several clicks on my ARC-LS26 to obtain gain comparable to the old tubes--matched with the VS55 -- i have now about 35 hours -- is that normal ? VASILI
I truly believe if and when "break in occurs" is basically you can kinda tell by the system just being more efficient and less congested sounding, whether turning up the volume or not.. Its got a looser feel to it, more detailed without feeling like your trying to push it out as hard.. This is my experience, now whether technical measured parameters can be prove on this or not is pretty much a pointless point. I have noted in the past there is a certain fluency that comes with a decent amount of hours on a system after time.. Cable break in is much less realistic, but in electronics a little can occur I feel, and definatley speakers I have heard become more fluent and intergrated with a better bandwith, now I guess if you measure a speaker for 20 - 20 without breaking in its all there, but some frequencys start to become more effortless and increase presence in time…

Why How or whatever reallly makes no difference to me, I mean I just don't get why this is such a Sin in audio to believe that such a thing can occur, No doubt its possible some systems simply sound great and maybe what one would think their best right away and they expect no more, but some can come into their own in time as well… Maybe its just you end up getting use to it, maybe cause all of a sudden your power company is supplying better power, and break in is just simply B.S. I guess some people look at this as an excuse for a not perfect performing out of the box design. So this is the only measurement I can give, if you feel 3 months later your system sounds more effortless and you don't think about it so much as to what you can improve, you have started your "Break in" period. Might happen for some, maybe not for everybody that has the sound they want out of the box already.     
Due to thermal cycling and mechanical flexing, some components may change slightly. I would not lose any sleep over this.
i have spoken to a technician at Mcintosh. he asserts that for a tube component, after dissipation of tube impurities, the electrical characteristics of an amp or preamp will measure the same during the life of tubes. in the case of a preamp, 12 volt tubes last between 2000 to 4000 hours. power tubes may not last quite as long.

so, the perception of a change in sound of a component is anecdotal and subjective.

is it possible that since one expects a change in presentation during say, the first 300 hours that one will hear it ?

suppose one does not expect to hear any differences after 3 hours, when the impurities of tubes have dissipated. might it mean that no difference will be heard ?

how much is a placebo affect and how much is real ?