Why does burning in work

[Big Dog RJ]

Speaking of warm up time and proper evaluation... I remember many years ago, Sound Lab, store in IL Naperville, carried ML, Krell, CJ, Class'e, NHT speakers and Thiel's, plus others, were having this particular demo with Krells and ML stats. I was a frequent customer and loved to help set up things. Bought my very first pair of ML SL3's from these chaps, including the Krell KAV integrated amp and top loading CD player as a matching combo. Great stuff back in the day.

Anyway, they were about to demo a particular system for a potential customer, who was very keen on the Krell and NHT combo. So everything was warmed up nicely ready to go... we waited for nearly 2hrs and no show. It was getting late, so they shut down the system. Then after nearly 4hrs the silly bugger shows up. They refused to power the system back on! Stating that it's not going to sound anything like it's supposed to, especially after shut down for more than an hour. Things are cold and not properly warmed up, and so the sale didn't go through.

I contacted that customer the next day, and explained things in a clear and concise manner, he actually understood! Then we arranged another demo on a later day, and when he did finally show up, things were a blast! Demo successful and the sale went through, NHT's plus the Krells. The dealership thanked me for it plus handed over some nice Kimber Select cables as a token of appreciation plus a slab of MGD (miller genuine draft) my only favourite American beer, apart from Sam Adams.

Cheers to that!
Woof! RJ

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

@Kingrex that was an enjoyable story, thank you for sharing. Mains is overlooked so often, but it really makes a difference. After reading your experience with Dartzeel I'm thinking that I really need to listen to it someday. Sounds like an end of the road type of gear. Also, I'm happy that you confirmed the burn-in. I think still not many people know about this phenomenon. Any other piece of your equipment that you have noticed burn-in with? How about the speakers?

 

[Big Dog RJ]

Sorry to digress here, just a few cts worth...

Oh! Dartzeel... mighty fine gear indeed!

Initially I had only two kinds of SS gear I would live happily with if I were to change over to SS that is; Pass Labs, and Dan'Ds Momentums. Opportunity struck for a short stint on a home trial with a Dartzeel stereo amp. So, ending last year I brought a Dartzeel home whiles my CJ monoblocks were being serviced. The Dartzeel gripped and drove the CLX's effortlessly! Just like the other two, Pass Labs & Dan'Ds master designs, grip and control with authority is not an issue. In addition to this, the Dartzeel does have a sort of warmth or should I say "tonal rightness" to its overall presentation, and one thst is not fatiguing in any way. Such that, it's not glaring, not sterile nor cold like the majority of SS gear, rather it draws you into the presentation and the more time you spend listening, the hours just go by without ever noticing. If and when this happens to me then I know straight away that the music is engaging and becomes much more enjoyable.

We now have a new importer / distributor for Dartzeel in Aus, and as I had imagined, the price tag is right up there! Since I'm truly passionate about tubes and just prefer that kind of sound, perhaps one day when I'm ready to retire and engage in such spend, I wouldn't hesitate one bit on Dartzeel. Simply marvellous! It was really hard letting it go and to have it returned to the dealer.
That one whole week with it was one experience fully worth it!

Cheers, RJ

 

[Kingrex]

Thanks RJ on the added content.

AMR, I don't think its possible to extrapolate burn in with a speaker due to the physical component. Anyone can take say a piece of wire or rubber band and stretch it a bunch of times and feel how soft it gets, then it finally breaks. As others have noted here, the surrounds have such an impact on the movement of the diaphragm. How coule one know what is molecular changes in the wire or physical changes in the surrounds.

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

Thanks RJ on the added content.

AMR, I don't think its possible to extrapolate burn in with a speaker due to the physical component. Anyone can take say a piece of wire or rubber band and stretch it a bunch of times and feel how soft it gets, then it finally breaks. As others have noted here, the surrounds have such an impact on the movement of the diaphragm. How coule one know what is molecular changes in the wire or physical changes in the surrounds.

Oh, changes in driver break-in eg. the compliance of suspension, are easy to measure
We characterise drivers by Thiele/Small parameters. Some of those parameters are based on the compliance of the suspension. Any changes in the rubber are shown in the measurements. If you take a new driver and measure it yourself it won't have the parameters declared by the manufacturer. After some hours of work, the driver will settle into the specification provided by the manufacturer.