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.
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.