Jetter, that’s why - in most cases - one does not evaluate equipment immediately any more than one would assess a speaker system after 30 hours. I was trained to play music through a component for weeks, and if you have ever read The Absolute Sound, you would recall that they did the same thing for weeks. Amps, preamps, speaker cable, power cords. Everything. I clearly remember Andy Benjamin’s review of Audio Research’s Classic 60 amp, way back in the day. He was appalled by the sound of it out of the box, and it took weeks for the amp to fully burn in, and for him to hear its virtues. Shunyata cable is the same: it takes hundreds of hours to break in (Shunyata demurs on this), but the owners almost universally state otherwise (including me). And God forbid you move the cable around and then listen to it immediately: you have to wait an hour or two for it to "settle." Sound ridiculous? Perhaps, but nonetheless, that’s the reality. I didn’t always know that, especially about Shunyata (I don’t know if everyone’s cables work that way, but Shunyata’s sure do!), but I know if after 15 years of owning their cables, power cords, etc. And I have friends with better ears who have good systems, who will come over and listen, too, and they can hear it as well. And I don’t tell them what to expect. I just let them listen. Some of this is VERY esoteric, but that’s why the non-believers state it’s "hysteria," "hogwash," etc.. Of course, they say this with little-to-no personal experience, or a one-time listen on a poorly set up system at a dealer’s "who has a $200,000 system," they proclaim loudly, as though that means it is well set up. I know otherwise about setup (and the setup can kill even the best electronics and speakers’ ability to deliver the optimum performance). Poor electrical isolation can mask differences, too.
The same thing applies to fuses. I don’t know why, but I imagine Synergistic allows a 30-day guarantee because they KNOW it will take time for the fuse to break in. I wonder why other manufacturers of fuses don’t do the same. It would certainly provide assurances for the Doubting Thomases, although some people are simply unwilling to trust ANYthing. That’s their prerogative, but it sounds exhausting, not to mention depressive in nature.
I will listen initially, wander in and out of my music room, and then listen again seriously, at, say, 200 hours, and then - if I am missing certain aspects of the sonics I KNOW should be there from having owned the disc for 30 years - reverse the fuse to see how it sounds and then give it time in that (reversed) direction, although I can usually determine where the human voice (unamplified) is displaying its full harmonic palette. Voice is, I find, the easiest way of determining correct orientation, but yes, it does take time. But it helps to use discs you know really, really, really well, vinyl OR CD. You can’t pull some new CD or LP that you haven’t used over the course of years and thru several different components in YOUR OWN SYSTEM and expect to make experienced observations.
And even after I’ve tested the new component (in this case, the fuse), I will still take it out and re-insert a previous generation of the same company’s fuse, let IT warm up for a few hours (or, if I’m REALLY unsure, days) and see if the voice is missing information and/or harmonics.
Some people don't have the time or the patience, and I understand that. They would also not be hired to write for audio magazines. That requires curiosity, patience, a little skepticism, and a love of music above all. And even then, one can make a mistake. But at least the whole experiment has been conducted in as scientific a manner as is possible. And that's all anyone can ask.
