Burn-in time Vs. Getting used to a sound

Hi Brutus, A fair question. No. Years ago I took home some speakers to see how they would work with my gear and in my room. They sounded wonderful. I took them back to the dealer and told him to order me a pair. When I got them I was very disapointed, they did not sound nearly as good as the ones I borrowed. That is when I learned about break-in. I go thru this every time I get somthing new. From cartridges to CD players. For me burn-in is in no way psycological. It is too painfull. Excellent post Fpeel.

I do believe it take some time for components to burn-in and sound as designed. It is very true for speakers. The surrounds and spyders on speakers are stiff when new. After several hours these parts loosen up and move more freely which usually opens up the sound. Speakers usually sound lean and hard when new. I have the Sony SCD-1 player. It was harsh when new. It took about 3 months of normal use before it broke in. My friend had one before me. I could tell the difference when his was broken in compared to my new unit in the same system. I was told that capactors need to be reshaped after they have been shipped due to the pressure change in aircraft. It usually takes 50 hours or so. I think all components needs some break-in... some more than others. mike

Every time I have bought a new component there have been significant changes in the sound over a period of weeks, and the sequence of how the sound changes is usually the same. I find this to be completely unexplained by Brutus' view that there is some psychological thing going on. Of course it is possible that my ears are being burned in to the sound of the component - but this would not explain why, when I bought a second Theta Data III it did not sound like my old one for some weeks and then after a few weeks it sounded the same. For Brutus to be right I would have had to subliminally told myself the new (identical looking and identically spec'd) machine must sound different, and then changed my subliminal mind three weeks later. But Brutus - do any of these "nay-saying" opinions of yours have any basis in your actual experience, as opposed to what your understanding of electrical engineering theory tells you. I have yet to see a post from you that refers to actual experience. If your opinions are in fact based on experience, then perhaps you could outline your system and setup so that we may surmise why you do not hear what so many others with highly resolving systems hear.

Brutus, I just saw your post saying you tried a few specialist power cords and heard no difference - so I take back my earlier statement. I am still interested in your system contect, however.

redkiwi:I currently have an atmosphere novacron amp, audible illusions 3a pre,micromega cd,maggie 3.2 speaks. I have had many other systems and other than tubes and speaks they ALL sounded exactly the same when I sold them as when I bought 'em.sorry