re-burn in? is there such a thing.


sorry if this appears a bit silly but i need to confirm something a friend told me. after a cdp is burned in, does it need to be re-burned if not used for a while?. a buddy told me that if you don't use the player at least once a month, it needs to be re-burned. not a total re-burn per say, just 10-20 hours is what he recommends. i've never heard of such a thing but then i'm kinda new to all this. 90% of my usage is via i-pod using the krells direct i-pod hook-up. from what i understood, a simple 10 minute warm-up is all that is needed??.

my system is: consonance turandot cdp, krell s-300i integrated, aerial 7b speakers and velodyne dd12 sub. ic cables are cardas cross with audioquest speaker wire. thanks in advance.
levy03
There's a differnce between warm up and burn in.

Warming up is pretty obvious. Ask a race car driver if there's a difference between cold and warm tires. Similarly, some electronic equipment may have an optimal operating temperature for most efficient operation.

As far as burn in goes, people debate it. However, go to the nearest university engineering or science library and look for a book called "A Million and One Random Numbers". (I think that's the correct name). It's not too exciting. It contains a million random numbers. But read the preface.

In a nutshell, here's the story. In the early days of computers, scientists at Stanford University thought it would be good to develop a handy list of random numbers using the convenience of a computer to generate them. The result is the book. It's not always referenced, but pretty well every math or science book that has a table of random numbers at the back uses an excerpt of this book for the table. The scientists were concerned that the random generation of numbers by the computer could result in some numbers appearing more frequently at the start of the process. Just like flipping a coin ten times isn't going to always produce exactly five heads and five tails. It would all even out after time though. However, they had a concern. What if more frequently appearing numbers at the start of the process conditioned or burned in the electronic circuit so that those same numbers were more likely to appear in subsequent number generations? Then the numbers wouldn't be truly random. So they had to perform inferential statistical tests on the hypotheses that the numbers were or were not random. They had to regnerate some numbers because at times they were not confident that the number gneration was truly random because of the hypothesized burn in. They coudn't "prove" burn in but their inferential statistics couldn't always discount it either; so they had to take its possible existence into account.

Fascinating stuff. Anyway, I think it's hilarious when scientific types dispute burn in, and then they use textbooks with random number tables that were formulated with regard to the possibility of burn in. The irony is wonderful.

So, if you discount the possiblity of burn in, there's some pretty serious brain power and formidable statistical analyses a person will have to refute.
Components (of all kinds) basically burn in once when they're new -- but let me qualify that: this is true if what one means by "burn-in" has to do mainly with "setting" or "forming" the interfaces between conductors and dielectrics (not just wiring, but capacitors, diodes and many small devices. The only time this process MIGHT (depending on certain circuit design issues) need to be repeated, would be if one moved (as Rushton mentioned) and it turned out that the AC circuits for the audio system in the new house were on the opposite phase of the electrical service from the ones in the previous house.

Another instance of component "rehab" which I do perform on a regular basis (I'm just not sure "burn-in" would be the correct term) is using one of the many "system enhancer" CD's which supposedly remove residual magnetism and molecular stresses (Oy!) which build up in components, speakers, cables, etc. This could be identified as borderline snake-oil, were it not for the fact that most of them produce noticable results; except, for your cartridge/phono preamp, you'll need a record with a frequency sweep like the Cardas test record.

Speaker cables and interconnects should not need re-burning-in unless for some reason they accidentally (or on purpose?) get removed and then re-installed in the reverse orientation. Why? Because it's a bit like reversing a non-polarized capacitor in a circuit, and the interface between it plates and its dielectric have to be "re-formed" by the new signal polarity which (from the cable's point of view only) is now 180 deg. out of phase with the previous signal.
Whoa, both Markphd and Nsgarch, getting a little deep here, and especially after Levy said something about not "expound audiophile thingies". Guess a couple people around here must have missed that particular comment. Definely there is a difference between "burn in" and "warm up", but I think our friend Levy doesn't want to go down the overly "technical" road. Basically once your compondents are "burned in", then keeping them warm is all you really need for them deliver their "peak performance".

Once again, let your ears and your music be your guide, as they will tell you all you need to know. It ain't all that difficult nor should it be.