Kimber Select 3033 versus 3035 and 3038

Mgx1138, it's possible the 3035s weren't completely broken-in. They were a Cable Co. rental. Also, this was in comparison to Bifocal XL, a copper cable. The Bifocal XL had a bigger soundstage in all directions and more neutral tonality. Maybe in my all SS system (Meridian G08, Rowland Synergy IIi and Model 10, Soliloquy 6.5) it's better not to have too much silver. Strangely enough, I've never had a problem with the 1130 ICs. Mine have well over 1000 hours on them. Maybe the 1130 and Bifocal XL are a complementary pairing.

Nighthawk, according to Cable Company all their loaners are fully broken-in to enable customers to start listening immediately. I have auditioned cables from them and enquired about break-in and that was their response. I'm also curious how the BiFocal XL compares to the Selects, especially the 3033s. I'm using the Kimber silver balanced Selects in my system right now. I find that they can be a little on the sharp side of cheddar at times. Seems to be dependent on the software. If the CD is superb that's what comes through. If it's nasty the cables seem to communicate it a little too well.

I tried al three types of KS. While the 3035 was a big step forward in my system, the 3038 was too much. So I run the 3035 for 5 years now along with the 1130 IC in the chain - just wonderful!

Rja, I've also gotten that response from the Cable Co. The question is what do they consider broken in? It seems the silver stuff continues to change over a very long period.

In my system the 1130 moved the sound from Havarti to mozzarella - it's not quite to the cheddar level. I would like a tiny bit more bite, but every time I succeed at increasing the bite, I get pepper-jack, which can be a nice change of pace, but I don't want it all the time:)

I would suggest that a bit of skepticism is in order whenever someone whom you do not know claims that they have fully broken in a cable, component or speaker that requires many hundreds of hours of break-in time.

For example, logging 750 hours on something requires it to be run 24/7 for a full month. 1,000 hours is a long time and a concerted effort has to be made to ensure that those hours are actually logged. It was worth it to fully break in my Kimber Select 1030 and 3038, as they did not fully open up and smooth out until they got a real 1,000 hours on them, but it was a true pain in the ass and a six-week project. Breaking in speakers and speaker cables is a particular inconvenience, as most of us don't have a barn in which to put them where they can be run in 24/7. Even wiring one speaker out of phase so they don't make noise during break in is a pain, as the speakers have to be faced nose to nose for break-in, but then pulled apart, the leads flipped on one pair of speaker cables, and the speakers repositioned if, during the break-in period, the owner feels like listening to music. Von Schweikerts and Verities, to name just a few, take 500+ hours to break in. Given the inconvenience of break-in, speakers should be, in my opinion, broken in by the manufacturer, and I am perfectly fine with them working the added cost into the price, as the current failure of the industry to do this is intolerable (at least to me) ... "[H]ere are your new speakers. If you run them 24/7 for three weeks, they will sound like they are supposed to sound. Thanks for your $30k and good luck".

My apologies for the diversion from your question.