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Cable Burn In

I'm new here and new to the audiophile world. I recently acquired what seems to be a really high end system that is about 15 years old. Love it. Starting to head down the audiophile rabbit hole I'm afraid.

But, I have to laugh (quietly) at some of what I'm learning and hearing about high fidelity.

The system has really nice cables throughout but I needed another set of RCA cables. I bit the bullet and bought what seems to be a good pair from World's Best Cables. I'm sure they're not the best you can get and don't look as beefy as the Transparent RCA cables that were also with this system. But, no sense bringing a nice system down to save $10 on a set of RCA cables, I guess.

Anyway, in a big white card on the front of the package there was this note: In big red letters "Attention!". Below that "Please Allow 175 hours of Burn-in Time for optimal performance."

I know I'm showing my ignorance but this struck me as funny. I could just see one audiophile showing off his new $15k system to another audiophile and saying "Well, I know it sounds like crap now but its just that my RCA cables aren't burned-in yet. Just come back in 7.29 days and it will sound awesome."
n80
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
It’s always a treat when one pseudo skeptic pats another pseudo skeptic on the fanny.
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,417 posts
 
N80, you stated that you are new to the audiophile world. So, shouldn't you approach the subject of burn-in or run-in with an open mind?

The instructions on your cables to allow 175 hours breakin does sound absurd and I've never seen that before. You may have purchased Mogami or Canare from that particular dealer which are professional quality cables. 
I work in the biz and use these cables and break-in has never been mentioned.

But based on my experience at home with cables using exotic metallurgy and design, there is an audible difference between the brand of cable plus the before and after breakin period. ie, I have owned 2 pairs of Purist Audio interconnects and could hear a difference between a new cable out of the box and the cable in my system.

At some point in this hobby you may discover this for yourself.


geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Ah, the old pro audio vs high end audio disconnect rears it’s ugky head. This is what happens when one segment of the industry stoves pipes. I.e., develops a set of concepts and products without paying attention to what’s going on in other segments of the industry, especially the one segment that presumably has a leg up on the advanced audio stuff.
hifiman5's avatar
hifiman5
1,832 posts
 
OP - shadorne and the other measurers insist that if you can't measure it you won't hear it...you might convince yourself you did, but what the hell do your ears know?  I mean really who are your ears to tell your brain what sounds are entering them.  Much better to have a man-made device measure sounds which your inferior organic listening devices can not perceive.  Sheesh!

If you are a "measurer" then so be it.  You will be happy in your paradigm and that is absolutely fine!

My organic listening mechanism is more important to me than a man-made measuring device.👂👂

The decision?  Which listening mechanism do you want to trust to deliver the truth of your system to you?
prof
3,474 posts
 
n80,

You can see some examples of what I was talking about in this thread.

For instance the link to claims by cable purveyors regarding break in.First of all, going to the people who seem to be making dubious or controversial claims for products they sell might not be the best place to get objective information on cables.  I don't know about you,  but I try not to derive a true picture of the world form advertisements ;)

Second of all, note in those links to Nordost and Cardas simply bring you to claims made by those manufactures, wherein they supply no objective/measured results to support their technical claims of burn in (or that it is audible even if something does change over time in the cable).

And the other link morrowaudio is essentially a link to their cable burn in services.  I leave it to you to conclude the wisdom or not of appealing to someone trying to sell you a service as evidence of their claim.

Again, my position on cable burn in is not that I know it doesn't occur.  But rather, when I look at the basis on which those claims are typically presented, there's a fair amount to be skeptical of.




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