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Break in time that extends to months or maybe even years!!

On another thread, we have a well known and well respected piece of gear ( and great sounding too, IME) that according to the member who is reviewing it, needs in excess of 1000 hours to fully break in!! 

While we have all heard of gear that needs immense amounts of 'break in' time to sound its best, usually gear that involves teflon caps, I question whether this very long break in time is the job for the consumer? Is it reasonable for a manufacturer of audio gear to expect the consumer to receive sub-par performance from his purchase for potentially several months ( years?) before the true sound of the gear in question can be enjoyed? Or, is it ( or should it be) perhaps the job of the manufacturer of this gear ( usually not low priced) to actually accomplish the 'break in' before releasing it from the factory? Thoughts...
128x128daveyf
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 

Hello Davey… Sure, the next phase of the Rowland Daemon evaluation protocol will come soon.

 

It will consist of Daemon’s DAC + preamplifier subsystems feeding into the Rowland M925 monoblocks using Cardas Clear Reflection XLR balanced ICs.

 

I conjecture that having rested unplugged for about one month and a half, M925 and Cardas ICs might come back to full potential in a couple of days of grinding a signal.

 

Conversely, this will be the first time I exercise the balanced XLR outputs of Daemon’s linestage subsection.  Thus, I have no idea whether or not these outputs will show any signs of needing any additional dedicated burn-in time…

 

I’ll scribble soon again about my project's goings on at:

 

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/jeff-rowland-daemon-reviewing-the-jrdg-superintegrated-flagsh...  


 

Regards, Guido



djones51
4,947 posts
 
I'm still waiting for my RCA 19inch TV to break in. For some reason the picture still looks grayish, very drab colors. I'll give it to 2025 before I complain. 
daveyf's avatar
daveyf OP
2,880 posts
 
@djones51   Your console unit still sounds good to you doesn't it..? 
phd
1,320 posts
 
High quality gear does require an extensive break-in period, but for years, give me a break. Some manufacturers will break-in gear to some degree  before it is sold so that the buyer initially will enjoy a certain level of sound quality from the get-go. How many times have you read that some buyers sold their new purchase too soon only to find out later they did not allow the component the properly break in, thus they never really got to hear its capabilities.
Conversely there is some gear that require to be left on over-night just to sound their very best for critical listening. But I think you can take this break-in period too far, then you need to ask yourself what is really breaking in, you or the gear.
daveyf's avatar
daveyf OP
2,880 posts
 
@phd  Question is how many users that you were referencing leave their gear on all the time, or listen as often as it takes to actually break the gear in. The ARC preamp I mentioned, would have required a number of months or more...perhaps more than a year, to actually break in IF the user was not listening every week ( and for extended periods). That, plus one wouldn't really want to leave a tube preamp ( or any tube gear for that matter) on for weeks at an end. ARC stated that their large Teflon caps needed 600+ hours to break in! 
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