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CD Player break in period

Guys, I'm not looking to start a debate on break in periods, if it's real, a myth, etc.

I have purchased a new Esoteric X-03 SE SACD player on 12/26/07 along with new Tara Labs The One (w/ISM) balanced interconnects. I let the player warm to room temperature as it was stone cold when I opened the box, evidence that it was either in an unheated warehouse or truck for a while-confirmed by my dealer. After a half a day, I hooked it up and the sound was incredibly poor. Very hard sounding, harsh mids and highs, narrow soundstage, no impact to bass, no definition. I am now on hour 674 and it's almost there. Soundstage opened up, detail is awesome, everything is, as I said almost there, but I still have a bit of a sting on female vocals. I have done an extensive amount of research and although Esoteric's website says break in should be 250 hours, I have found some information stating it would take 800 to 1,000 hours to sound excellent, with it still improving there after.

Again, I am not looking for responses disputing break in, that this is a fantasy and it must be some other culprit in my system (my dealer prchased the same player on the same day (same shippment) and he is experiencing the same).

I would love to hear about other members experience with equipment requiring a rather extensive break in period.

I appreciate your input.
128x128cerrot
mrjstark
1,112 posts
 
"I have found some information stating it would take 800 to 1,000 hours to sound excellent"

No offence, but it just doesn't sound logical.
I hope you do not believe this statement which is very hard to swallow to say the least.
Is there something in writing about this from the manufacture, and if there is - what does it say exactly .....and the explanation why???
I personally did experience a few components that benefited from the extra burn-in time....but never to that extreme.
Ag insider logo xs@2x
knownothing
1,606 posts
 
1000/24 = 41.67 days. Less than 1.5 months. That is not really that long of a time. I could see continued improvements occurring over that period. My question would be how beneficial is it to just have a device turned on versus actually playing it with the disk spinning and signal coursing through electronics?
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
01-26-08: Knownothing
1000/24 = 41.67 days. Less than 1.5 months. That is not really that long of a time. I could see continued improvements occurring over that period.

I also agree that continued improvements are possible. The question here is: Can 1000 hours take something from "unbearable" to "wonderful"?

My answer would be no. As always, YMMV.

Cheers,
John
cerrot's avatar
cerrot OP
1,700 posts
 
Guys,
The Estoteric site itself says 250 hours. In my system, that was just a consertive estimate. The system is now "there" at 760 hours. One issue that I have found is that the Esoteric is so revealing, that it has uncovered flaws in sone cd's that my previous kW did not reveal, so I did switch to other "test" cd's and all does sound wonderful.
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
So let's re-cap shall we? At 674 hours you were "almost there" except for the bit of a sting in female vocals. Now at 760 hours, you are "there", especially when listening to test cd's.

I agree that the Esoteric is ruthlessly revealing. I have moved on because of that. I found that 90% of my cd collection was not up to the task w/ the Esoteric units. The choice was to find a player that made my collection sound good, or limit the cd's that I could listen to without grinding my teeth. I chose the former.

I'm glad to read that you are "there" Cerrot, enjoy the music.

Cheers,
John
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