Break in is found in esoteric cables,speakers,tubes,capacitors and new electonics or gear that has been left idle for extended periods of time,that's just a fact.
One thing I find curious - the changes from burn-in are almost always reported as positive. One can speculate that the product designers took the direction of change into account. But in a finely balanced system, if something changes, it seems that there would be a reasonable chance that things would get worse.
After many exhaustive hours of listening tests, I have determined that when a cable is burned-in, it is actually ruined. No cable should be used for more than a few hours, as the stresses on the insulation and the agitation of the copper molecules cause permanent changes to the structure of the cable - these changes are invariably for the worse, and fresh unused cables can be proven by listening tests to be superior in all respects.
Another explanation is that the designers listen and fine-tune after burn-in to ensure that the equipment sounds its best for the long-term...
I agree most small components need little burn-in, though the characteristics of some things (speakers come to mind) do take a few hours. Hundreds of hours seems excessive...
Yes, mechanical devices (kind of like tubes tht wear out..filament emission and depositation of debris on tube parts) are always changing some, speakers sort of loosen up, then get too loose. There is truth to burn in but mechnaical devices (cartridges and TT bearings and belts and R2R belts and capstan and pinch rollers and tape guides and all sorts of mechanical things may get better but will always get worse with time.
Might as well include electrolytic capacitors, tube sockets, solder/wire connections, etc, blah blah...
One thing I find curious - the changes from burn-in are almost always reported as positive. One can speculate that the product designers took the direction of change into account. But in a finely balanced system, if something changes, it seems that there would be a reasonable chance that things would get worse.
Burn-in is is now always positive. Some Audio Research components sound decent taken out the box, but during the first phase of burn-in their sound becomes worst, and only at the final phase of burn-in they reach their best.
Burn in can be a PITA!!!!!!! I hate waiting for speaker cables to come up. Everytime the system cycles you don't know how it's going to sound,from experience.
Burn in can be a PITA!!!!!!! I hate waiting for speaker cables to come up. Everytime the system cycles you don't know how it's going to sound,from experience.
Roger
cable break is depend on how strong of the current, longer period need s is tonearm's cable because of less current from cartridge , so my home made tonearm cable before I put it on to the arm I use a radio line out signal to run it in two weeks 24 hours/day, loaded with a 1 or 2 K resistor, interconnect don't need that long same in one week, speaker cable can burn by amp with shorter time compare to others, this is my burn in cable experience
tony ma
I read somewhere that in a dedicated Home Theater room our eyes have to adapt to the darkness coming from the light.
So a light dimmer & timer (15 minutes) is a good adaptor.
In Audio I guess it is similar somehow; coming back from the normal noises of reality and adjusting to the new sound recordings from your sound system.
