Cartridge Break-In

Onhwy, if Raul says:

"Just play records, forget about break-in and enjoy the ride."

You should remember that is the "Gospel according to Raul", but not necessarily the gospel Truth!

Please remember that Raul and others have personal opinions which they have a habit of expressing as absolute facts. Do not misunderstand me, I have nothing against opinions -- I just think they should carry a proper disclaimer.

I have given you some verifiable information about the stress performance of modern polymers, and you can research this further, as I have, by using the modern miracle of Google.

Further, re cartridge loads, only a few manufacturers (like van den Hul, for instance) bother to state an optimum load for their products, even the very expensive ones. Most give a range that starts at the coil resistance (5 to 30 ohms or so) and goes to 47K ohms. That doesnt tell you a hell of a lot does it? However, there is a very definite electrical relationship (called impedance matching) between a cartridge's internal resistance and the load it is working into (just like between a preamp and amp). The customary starting point is usually a multiple of 25 times the cartridge's internal resistance. This has been arrived at through both experience and experiment. Using it will definitely get you in the ballpark, otherwise you'll be starting outside the stadium parking lot!

If you don't know the coil resistance of your cartridge, give me the make and model and I'll be happy to look it up for you. It may also be listed at www.cartridgedb.com

I hope this helps clarify some of the mystery.

I know four or five people who have used the Cardas burn-in disc (LP) and have been very happy with the results. I haven't seen any of them post yet, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.

I don't have a table but I'd use it if I ever bought another turntable, or cartridge.

The Cardas LP helped shorten the most torturous period of a friend's Shelter 901, which I broke in for him. Without it I couldn't have stayed in the house when it was new.

The ZYX Airy 2 we reviewed took at least 75 hours and the Airy 3 took well over 100. We didn't use the Cardas record because we felt a responsibility to report on the sound from the get-go.

OTOH, our UNIverse needed no break in at all. I once thought that the maker might have broken it in by listening himself. Ours is serial # 1 so that would have made sense. But other UNIverse owners have also reported few if any changes in their copies.

In the end it depends on the cartridge, and IMO it is more than just the ears or brain of the listener. It isn't likely we're fooling ourselves when we hear one cartridge change enormously while the next doesn't change at all. In one extreme case (Airy 3) we changed impedance 8 times in the first 60 hours. It was like trying to hog-tie a wild cat. Every time I thought I had it tied down it twisted loose again.

If you can enjoy the sound then listen to music. If you can't, give it some hours on those Cardas locked grooves.

Interesting, I never heard from a Cartridge, which needs no break in. I ordered a Zyx UNIverse, which will arrive in a few days.
The AT637 is a vibration stylus cleaner, it is absolutely safe. I did NOT write, to put the stylus on it for 100 hours, I did write, after 3 hours on it the "break in" is done.

My ZYX Bloom "bloomed" after only about 4 hours - I'm quite sure it'll only get better with time, but obviously didn't take much initially to be noticeable.

So, in regards to Stevecham's comments...I concur. Just play and play and play - the thing will ultimately open up (it better), and the experience along the way will probably be quite interesting. Figure it as hearing a metamorphosis, if you will, hopefully "ending on a note" that is what you expected when you purchased it.

Enjoy.