2. amps-preamps
  3. 1061931859

Physical explanation of amp's break in?

Recently purchased Moon i-5, manual mention 6-week break in period, when bass will first get weaker, and after 2-3 weeks start to normalize. Just curious, is there ANY component in the amp's circuitry that known to cause such a behaviour?

I can't fully accept psycho-acoustical explanation for break-in: many people have more then one system, so while one of them is in a "break-in" process, the second doesn't change, and can serve as a reference. Thus, one's perception cannot adapt (i.e. change!) to the new system while remain unchanged to the old one. In other words, if your psycho-acoustical model adapts to the breaking-in new component in the system A, you should notice some change in sound of your reference system B. If 'B' still sounds the same, 'A' indeed changed...
dmitrydr
paulwp
585 posts
 
I guess you answered my questions about your educational background. You aren't an EE. You've said you know what you are talking about because you repair things. I told you my firsthand experience is I have listened to an abundance of amps and have never heard one change from day one. That's all I claim.

A pretty silly grade school rhetorical device to ask someone for a technical explanation of why an imaginary event doesn't occur. As far as I know, the only thing that can happen is degradation, and that should be measurable.

Btw, I think I saw a reference to Carver amps in the AA thread. Do/did you like the Lightstar II?
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Paulwp...Don't give sean a hard time! Although I don't always agree with him, I find his comments interesting/informative. Although I am primarily an academic-type engineer, I have always been known as one who likes to get his hands dirty, and I must say that some of my best theoretical insights (over a 40-plus year career) have come about as a result of screwing around in the lab.

My view in a nutshell is that things you see (or hear) in the lab ought to be confirmed by scientific expanation. Until that is accomplished, you can't be sure that you weren't fooled in some way.
iasi
115 posts
 
pheeew...i thought i was the only one that didn't believe in break-in of amps, cables, and CD players...well, i guess i'm not alone anymore...thank you guys!
dmitrydr OP
221 posts
 
What's funny here, people tend to consider this as something to "believe in", instead of "know". To believe because "somebody told me", or "he must have MSc in EE to know"... LOL! Here you've got an opinion based on a practical experience and professionally measured data, not just a simplified theory. Instead of asking "educational background" :) , it would be more appropriate to provide a data, acquired on a similarly professional level (not "personal thoughts"), that would just prove the opposite... Should be easy, right?
paulwp
585 posts
 
The problem, Dmitry, is there are no profesionally measured data evidencing burn-in. It is a belief based on what people think they hear, based on what people expect to hear. I didn't ask about educational background to support the position taken on the issue of burn-in, but to support the assertion above that he knew what he was talking about.
More to discover