A DAC that crushes price vs. performance ratio

@d2girls, thanks for the tip!

The manual for the XA25 states that it takes about an hour to fully warm up, and that coincides with the amount of time I have observed it to take to reach a stable temperature on its heat sinks. So rather than leaving it on 24/7 my usual practice is to simply turn it on about an hour or so before I do any critical listening.

For break-in purposes, Mark at Reno Hi-Fi had suggested leaving it on 24/7 for 5 days to fully break it in. But out of an abundance of caution, especially given that it is a brand new amp, I left it on for most of the 24 hours of each of day, until it reached 120 hours, but not while asleep or when no one was home.

Thanks again. Best regards,
-- Al

@teajay I appreciate your viewpoint. A “no conflict” statement is easy to make for publications, so why the pushback? It’s simply a general statement that reviewers should make about what their conflicts of interest are with respect to products under review, particularly when they are making statements in a commercial, for-profit, publication that might lead to inducing others to make a purchasing decision, as this thread amply demonstrates in spades. This is common in even scientific publications, where no commercial transaction is even contemplated. If none exists, then so state it. Period. End of story.

And with all due respect, stating something is an economic, high value product sort of depends on what the value is to that person. That is, the cost to them. The publication can make its policy a blanket statement that applies to all reviewers. But to endorse a product with the statement, “I bought the reviewed product” suggests that the price offered to ordinary consumers was paid. Your audience is not like-minded reviewers who can get the gear at your cost, but folks who pay full price for their gear.

Honestly it's just general advice for anyone running class a. I leave my Pass Labs XA30.5 on 24/7, even though it has a idle switch where it draws far less power. But I just like coming home and being able to enjoy my music right away! Call me a millennial that wants instant gratification, because that's what I am! xd And I intend to sell the amp in the next year. So def not worried.

Hey Al,

Truth be told, I never turn off SS amps including the XA-25, except if I'm going on a long trip.  Yes, the XA-25 comes mainly back on song after about a hour. However, to get to the pristine level of performance it can offer takes a lot more time in my experience. 

I had a pair of Threshold SA-1 mono-blocks that remained turned on for close to 20 years and the caps were still good and going strong.  I believe that my never turning off the amps the caps last longer and are less likely to dry out.