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Equipment Break-in: Fact or Fiction

Is it just me, or does anyone else believe that all of the manufacturers' and users' claims of break-in times is just an excuse to buy time for a new users' ears to "adjust" to the sound of the new piece. Not the sound of the piece actually changing. These claims of 300+ hours of break-in for something like a CD player or cable seem outrageous.

This also leaves grey area when demo-ing a new piece as to what it will eventually sound like. By the time the break-in period is over, your stuck with it.

I could see allowing electronics to warm up a few minutes when they have been off but I find these seemingly longer and longer required break-in claims ridiculous.
bundy
stehno
1,453 posts
 
In my experience, the sonic characteristics of a burn-in verses a non-burned-in product can be best described as listening to a system immediately after powering the system on, verses listening to a system after warming up for 2, 4, 6, or even 8 hours. I had one amplifier that literally sounded better after 3 days of being powered up. Just like the manufacturer stated.

90 to 95 percent of the sonic signature is already there as soon as you power everything up, but then over the course of the warm-up time period the sound begins to warm up, blossoom, smooth out, and then immerse you into the music just a bit more.

-IMO
cbucki
69 posts
 
With speakers, I think it's fairly logical to assume the speaker will improve after some break-in. The drivers do require some air, to provide some deeper bass. As a Triangle Celius owner, I can attest that the speakers are far better after 200hrs of play than they were out-of-the box.
Question about CD player burn-in: Do you have to play music at decent volume levels, or can you just run your CD unit alone to burn it in? What normally happens after CD burn in? Do you get smoother highs and extended bass?

Need some help,
CB
avguygeorge
2,300 posts
 
The cd player needs to be on repeat and the dac or pre should be powered up.--That's all. What improvements there are is up to you to decide. I have always found lower bass/detail--and clean no sibliant treble to be the last to occur.
czbbcl's avatar
czbbcl
1,752 posts
 
It's a fact but don't expect a silk purse out of a sows ear.

Chuck
bishopwill
369 posts
 
As I noted in a parallel thread a few days ago, the rationale for burn-in of speakers is perfectly obvious from a material sciences perspective. It is not too farfetched to hypothesize that something similar might happen at a micro level in the circuitry. Alas, this is the point at which the objectivists suggest ABX comparisons and the subjectivists scream in rage and leave the room so we mostly don't really know.

Now, when people start telling me that the CDs, themselves, sound different after a few plays I find my eyes rolling involuntarily.

YMMV, of course.

will
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