Burn-in time Vs. Getting used to a sound


I have had much in the way of high end audio over the years. ...and the idea of an electronic item needing several hundred hours of use before sounding their best..is an accepted idea now (for the most part). Recently I have heard a growing thought of this just being the user getting used to the sound of a product.. Truthfully in the early days of Large Advents, DQ-10 Dahlquists and other gear..there was never any talk of burn-in time... Any thoughts out there on this.... Truth or Hype?
whatjd
Brutus-explain this then last week I was auditioning a Sugden21a amp at home-I had a mate visiting and we started listening to a CD(The Bends-Radiohead)as soon as we switched the amp on-it sounded terrible in the mid-band-as we continued to listen the amp over an hour the sound improved.1 hour approx after switching on we returned to the 1st CD-it sounded totally different-we both heard it-so your observation about a few secs and solid state do not hold true. Whilst this is not strictly burn-in it does show the effect in a simplistic manner.... Ben
Electronic components, just like us humans, suffer stress and strain. When electronic components are "powered up" all sorts of changes occur between their static (ie unpowered) and active (ie powered) states. These changes (particularly in high-end audio components) CAN and are "heard", as others have stated in this and other posts. Maybe there are some people around who cannot differentiate these (sometimes subtle) changes which affect the signal we hear, but although these people have a right to say "BS, there ain't no differences" it does show a somewhat narrow minded attitude which is contrary to the majority of those on this site who enjoy all aspects of reproduced audio and have a wiser, broader view of this hobby. Richard, www.vantageaudio.com
It is a FACT:Burn-in time is for real. Even after 3 years worth of break-in time, my solid state components need to time to burn-in for optimal performance. I turn on (CD,preamp/amp)an hr ahead of listening time(no music playing). 20 minutes in to it, sound approaches acceptable. An hour in to it, it gets better. Two hrs in to it and the system really sings. May be there is an objective reasons, how the electronics work.
Do headphones need time to burn in? I just bought a new pair of Sennheiser HD 580s and am wondering if anyone noticed changes in the sound of their 580s over time.
subaruguru.read the latest audio critic[10 biggest lies in audio] I believe this should support my view