Does cable burn in happen in phases?

[Dinkydau]

Any clarification about what happens would be useful indeed.

Meanwhile I have cooked the cables for 2 days with demagnetization sweeps. I'm pretty sure the problem is the cables because the sound has been more stable during that time (with cheap cables). First impression was a little dull, but that disappeared within a minute. It's now pretty good, a little sharp but that always happens right after connecting a cable. Not much can be concluded yet.

If the problem remains I think I will remove the plugs to check for any problems. Anyhow if something fixes it I will post it here.

 

[matakana]

Can you give some more details? What needs to be done to solve the problem?

This is the very first connection one should do when installing a Grounding device, The incoming Earth / Ground , just before the consumer unit , A very specific grounding device is used for this. Your entire ancillaries being audio or video will benefit greatly from this. Then you add Grounding devices to your ancillaries, deciding which is best, chassis or signal grounding.

 

[Wised]

Cable burn in....... If you can explain such a phenomenon in mathematics or physics, I'd be glad to recommend a time interval.......
Electro-mecanical devices do have a break-in period, for example a phono cartridge has moving parts that change with use. Tube require a certain temperature to function appropriately and wires inside wear out due to thermal cycling. However, a piece of wire that all it does is carry a very small amount of current has no physical change during operation. It will work exactly the same from the day it was made to hundreds of year till it corrodes or is otherwise damaged.

 

[Dinkydau]

The mystery is still unsolved but I have some new ideas.

Similar question: does settling happen in phases? I'm starting to think my problem is related to movement of the cables. I had already read about the well known fact that vibrations reduce sound quality, so I made sure that the spikes under my speakers are all touching the ground (well, spike shoes) equally. Next I put my amp and DAC on sponges, which gave a much bigger improvement than I expected. It was immediately noticeable. Then I placed the speaker cables on simple homemade cable risers made out of sticks. Most people do that so it must be a good practice. I just want to rule out any possible causes.

So even if unrelated, at least it helps to isolate equipment, or does it? I somewhat doubt whether the sponges caused the change, or just the fact that I moved the cables. That's because thus far I have always noticed that immediately after connecting a cable, the sound is at least okay and then changes for the worse (sharpness). I have noticed this with all speaker cables, even with the cheapest of cables and speakers.

I have paid very close attention to what exactly is happening to the sound since 6 days ago, which is when I last touched the cables. High frequencies are too loud, but that's definitely not all there is to it, because it can not be corrected with equalizers (I tried, using the program equalizer APO for windows). There is an aggressiveness to it, even in the lower frequencies, but it's more annoying in the high frequencies. It kinda sounds like the cables resist changes in volume, which makes fast sounds like bells remain at their peak volume for too long. As the peak is supposed to be very short, it makes the sound way too loud. It also works the other way around: attack appears slightly delayed, as if the cables resist the volume going up.

In addition to what I described previously (harsh, bad imaging, no microdynamics) what is also typical is a lack of warmth in the bass. Bass is there and can be loud but it doesn't fill the room. Also the bad sound is forward. When the sound is good, everything appears to be more in the background, further away.

How the sound changes: I have heard multiple times a very high pitched screech (probably inaudible to older people), immediately followed by an increase in clarity. It may be a big increase or a small increase, and I can confirm it does sometimes (always?) affect only one channel. After that the quality slowly becomes worse again, and the cycle repeats.

It won't be long before I give up with these cables, but since the vibration adjustments there has been a general trend of improvement. If it takes much longer I will revert to my cheap cables and then it will be interesting to see if any variation occurs with those over a longer period of time. I'm still pretty sure it's related to the cables because I have tried two amps, and I can 100% rule out the DAC and interconnect because I can switch the DAC without touching the equipment (from my audiolab DAC to the one integrated in the amp).

 

[Dinkydau]

Cable burn in....... If you can explain such a phenomenon in mathematics or physics, I'd be glad to recommend a time interval.......
Electro-mecanical devices do have a break-in period, for example a phono cartridge has moving parts that change with use. Tube require a certain temperature to function appropriately and wires inside wear out due to thermal cycling. However, a piece of wire that all it does is carry a very small amount of current has no physical change during operation. It will work exactly the same from the day it was made to hundreds of year till it corrodes or is otherwise damaged.

Everything causes physical change. Just the cable existing already causes it to change. Particles have half lifes. There's background radiation. Footsteps and earthquakes cause movement. Movement is a significant change right? Electricity also applies some force. The heat causes the cable to expand. Everything in this word is constantly changing, so the question is whether those normal changes are audible. I'm not sure. I just know that a lot more is audible than typically believed. Side note: burn in is usually attributed to interactions with the insulation material, so it's not just about metal and electricity.

 

[Dinkydau]

I found the cause. After removing the plugs: much more powerful bass and overall a thicker sound. It has never been like this, even when I would call the sound good. It's interesting that it could still sound so good sometimes with a (I assume) loose contact.

 

[Maril555]

I found the cause. After removing the plugs: much more powerful bass and overall a thicker sound. It has never been like this, even when I would call the sound good. It's interesting that it could still sound so good sometimes with a (I assume) loose contact.

What do you mean by “removing the plugs”?

 

[Dinkydau]

Unscrewing them and connecting the bare wire. That fixed it. By the way, one of the wires broke off when I did that and that also happened a few times when I connected the plugs the first time. I don't know how people do this properly but I won't be trying it again. Next time I will buy a complete cable with warranty. Audio is too sensitive to DIY this if you don't know what you're doing.

 

[Maril555]

Unscrewing them and connecting the bare wire. That fixed it. By the way, one of the wires broke off when I did that and that also happened a few times when I connected the plugs the first time. I don't know how people do this properly but I won't be trying it again. Next time I will buy a complete cable with warranty. Audio is too sensitive to DIY this if you don't know what you're doing.

Thank you, I presume you are talking about speaker cables?

 

[Dinkydau]

Yes, see the first post of the thread. It's audioquest rocket 88.