I have nothing new to add but will mention the old. I burn IC's in by runing the cable music station through our VCR to the television (with the new IC's in the link). This way I do not have to listen to them and they can run in most of the day(s). I have also used our second mini system (which is always used as a source only and is piped through either a Musical Fidelity or Audion amp), for speaker cable especially, but also IC's and PC's. This way the main system stays intact and listenable while the cable is being run in. I always do, out of curiosity, try new cables out first in the main system, but quickly tire of the sound (when fresh) and then send them off to the other devices. The only IC that I have used that required little to almost no break in has been the Mapleshade Double Helix digital cable which is a micro wire design. It sounded stable to me after an afternoon's play. I have also noticed that storing IC's (that are not in use) flat and not coiled seems top preserve most of their better sound qualities when they are once again installed. If an electrical current does not change the inherent characteristics of metal, then why does electro plating work? I also have a question about magnets (in this context), but don't know exactly what the question is.
