Why Aren't All Cables Pre-Burned In?


Most folks don't buy enough cables to justify their own cable burner. Yet, many cables take 2-4 weeks to burn in. This makes it very difficult to compare cables (did I just answer my own question?). Why don't manufacturers burn them in so you can tell what they sound like when you unwrap them and plug them in? Does the burn-in go bad after they sit on the shelf for a while? If so, wouldn't the second burn-in be quicker when you brought the cables home? I don't get it. Help! Thanks in advance. Hey, maybe some cable companies are out there listening.
ozfly
Hi Audionut! Glad that the phono link worked out for you.....I burn-in the interconnects on a couple of MOBIEs for either five days or thirty days at the customer's option....Wires pick up static in transit due to very low humidity in airplanes so I squirt the wires down with Nordost anti-static spray and put them in Faraday cage bags and they are still "bright" for a few days after arrival. I haven't changed prices in over six years so the ICs are a comparitive bargain. There will be a fancer version using 99.99997 pure silver shortly and they are not as much of a bargain as the wire was double the pricing of the 99.997 pure wire in the standard ICs.....Problem with silver is that it needs some help to break in as it will never break in at the voltages and currents normal in an audio system.....
I plan to break-in my Empirical Audio cables as well, but I would have to delay shipment of them at this time. I get the feeling that folks want them quickly rather than broken-in. It only takes about 10-20 hours in a system anyway.