Burn In = Voodoo?

I have often pondered along the same lines as you have. Possibly we both have a cynical bent of mind. So what....however, I have found that phono-cartriges for example after hours of playing, slowly begin to change, generally for the better, in the sense of better tonal cohesion and balance, better soundstage, less harsh highs, better defined bass. The same goes for all sorts of cables, some break in faster, some take a hell of a long time. If you are regular listener, its hard to really notice, especially if you have REALLY made a sonic upgrade from your old stuff, because the process does not go in leaps and bounds, but seems sort of continuous except at the end, when the stuff really begins to bloom. If you have a listening partner however, who only will lend you his ears occasionally, he ( with me mostly she ) will ask you, what you have done to your system, which seems so much more "musical". So I don't think its snake oil really, but something which can be objectified by experience. The change in interconnects, but also with speaker cables can generally be percieved from dry and laid back and dynamically understating to open and blooming and approach more closely what we describe as musically alive and natural and dynamically fluid. I realise , these are poor descriptive terms, language fails me here, but if you are regular concert goer, i.e. an audiophile masochist, you will find after a while, at least if you were lucky in your choice, that with the "new" stuff, the gap between the real thing and the sound your gear produces has been reduced more than you had been led to perceive at the beginning , when it was still brand new. About SACD players, I cannot say.

Great question. I hope someone has "the" answer, although I would bet most will be the same fuzzy science that seems to belong in the Audio field. I can see how anything moving, like speaker cones and phono cartrages might change over time, but the rest I don't have the "scientific" answer for. I have heard a number of explanations in books and magazines and tend to believe the principals, but for fear of being assulted by the "scientists" on this site, I will let others bring there theroies. I was told by two different dealers that it's the laser that requires "burn-in", I hope by sharing such radicail views I'm chastized.

Voodoo? Well in some parts of the world that is indeed a very strong "science". Maybe there is a doctor who over sees all audio voodoo. If that's not it, then the true explaination will arise, because to these ears, something does indeed happen to cables, wires, speakers and yes SACD. J.D.

I do not claim to have the "answer", but I have noticed a HUGE difference with cables in particular with speaker cables. When I recieved the cables I am using now(custom made Tek line Bi wire cables) I was told they have a long burn in time, I did not believe at that time in burn in. Well I "hooked up" the cables and they sounded very rough and unrefined, yes worse then lamp cord. So I promptly called the manufacture and he said to give them some time to break in. And now I am so glad I listened they smoothed out and sound great, why I do not know but for some reason with in around 50 hours of listening I noticed a HUGE increase in there performance.

Undo your burnt in speaker cables,curl them up,let them lie wherever for 24 hrs.Reinsert them; you should hear a difference in about 15/20 minutes.Same for power cords & ics.And no....don't stick them with a needle.

I beleive in pshcoacoustics, better power at night, and I think that livng with a piece is different from hearing it for the first time. I also beleive that over time you dont try as hard to hear a differece and relax allowing you to concentrate on the music. That alone allows it to sound better.

That said I had the oppertunity to compare two of the same model preamps. One was new and one was the display model. It was amazing how much better the broken in one sounded. I also think that my amps sound best after being on for a good thirty days. I absolutley hate turning them off.

I use to work with metal. Casting, rolling, and grinding. The characteristics of metal changes through certain processes like anneling or running current through it. I cant explain why but I know that it happens

I think that there a few who could explain it scientifaclly but the problem with the explanation is its hard to measure what ever changes the sound. I have a relative thats own a small computer company and we get in constant arguments on how one transport can sound different from another. He feels that digital is digital and there is no difference. We all know that isnt true and I think this situation fits into that catagory.

Most people with an electronics background dont learn about the effects of converting a signal to an analog soundwave. Not that there arent scientific reasons only that it is a highly unique and specialized feild. If you were to try to measure a difference you would need a meter that measuers and plots a sound wave. If it sounds different it must be shaped differently.