phono stage break in?

Noams, it's not about just leaving the equipment on, it's about running a signal thru it (and the interconnects too).

Phono preamps/stages include a Recording Institute of America (RIAA) de-emphasis section (a little like Dolby noise reduction.) So any "break-in" signal has to be "pre-emphasized" just like the signal on an LP. That's the reason for the "special" phono break-in CD, or the Hagermann device with the "reverse" RIAA circuit.

Just a quick question regarding using the Cardas Sweep record, which I just acquired last week. "Instructions" are kind of sketchy-I looked at the Cardas website and from what I can see using track 2 (a,b & c) on the sweep side should just about do it for regular maintenance. Do I have that right? Assuming I play one of those (or do I play all of them) every couple of weeks, am I getting the job done or do I need to be playing much more of the sweep side of the record? Thanks.

Hdm, yeah, a little sketchy. Anyway, you can do many things w/ the Cardas record. Two of them are:

1.) Cartridge break in -- to "ease up" a new suspension. You use track 2,3,4 on side 2. They are continuous grooves, so the stylus will stay in the groove until you lift it out. (Read the "Note" section for Side two just before the Track 2 description.) You could literally leave the TT running 24/7 with the cartridge in the groove until you have accumulated the required break-in time, usually at least 100 hours. I also run in new cartridges a couple tenths of a gram over their max. recommended VTF to speed up the break-in process -- then you back it off. Cartridge suspensions are a bit like the springs on a car -- a little stiff at first, and until they loosen up, the coils will not, at the recommended VTF, be properly positioned in the magnetic force field. Use all three bands (2,3,4) since they modulate (wiggle) the suspension in different directions.

2.) Another thing you can do with the Cardas record is degauss (de-magnetize) a cartridge as part of regular maintenance. This is just as effective as, and IMO much safer than, using a cartridge demagnetizer -- which I stopped using after reading A. J. van den Hul's explanation of the damage that can be done to the magnets and pole pieces in the cartridge. For this procedure, you need to use the full frequency sweep tracks 2a,b,c on Side one. Let your cartridge play all three tracs in succession and repeat two more times. Every 20 hours of playing time should be more than enough even if you're extremely anal. There's no need to turn up the volume control as this is mostly for the cartridge, however, if you're working ouside, or in the garage, crank it up a little, as it's good for the whole system.
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Why does a phono break-in signal have to have the RIAA equalization curve? The equalization is intended to improved high frequency S/N and increased per side playing time. Neither consideration is an issue with a break-in signal.

Onhwy61 -- I realize this answer isn't very scientific, but since all phono preamps (or stages) have built-in RIAA de-emphasis circuitry, it stands to (my) reason that they should be "conditioned" by feeding them the frequency/amplitude distribution curve for which they are designed.

As a matter of fact, the supposed advantage of using the Granite Audio CD or the Hagermann unit (instead of the Cardas record,) would be that you could run a higher level signal through the phonostage than it would normally "see" from a (weak) cartridge signal -- sort of like cable cooking.
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