Why does it take so many hours to brea in arc preamps and amps?

Happy Listening!

When a designer is building a new product and makes changes, the component gets broken in before they listen to it.

I’m not talking prototypes, it’s production ones I’m referring to.
And the way your inferring is that the production ones are deliberately out of adjustment/calibration to factor in "break-in" period, which after those adjustment/calibrations are magically back in spec?? I think not.

To all those that say the manufacture has specified a certain "break-in" period, please link the rest of us to those manufacturers links, instead of it being just personal opinion.

Cheers George

@georgelofi

Yes, it was on a red warning sticker on the outside of the DAC 8. Well, not a sticker so much as a big red sheet taped to the outside. Clearly they intended buyers to see it before making up their minds. 

That DAC is long gone, and I had purchased a floor model from the local dealer, so I can't tell you if I thought that was real or not.

It not only claimed 500 hours for the DAC, but per input as well.

Best,

E

It not only claimed 500 hours for the DAC, but per input as well.

Sounds like Ralph’s "expectation bias" to me. By that time not only would a trial period be over but the warranty as well with some.

Still not advertised and written on a web page link by the manufacturer.

Just like the mains fuses that are "said" to have to be "broken in" and also to be 'directional" by manufacturers, yet try to find any of that advertised on a site by them.

Cheers George

" I’m not talking prototypes, it’s production ones I’m referring to.
And the way your inferring is that the production ones are deliberately out of adjustment/calibration to factor in "break-in" period, which after those adjustment/calibrations are magically back in spec?? I think not. "

How could you possibly get that from reading my post?

You have to have prototypes in order to get to production. Here's how it works. A designer puts together a prototype. Before he listens to it, he breaks it in first. Any further changes made to the unit under development, gets broken in before the changes are evaluated. The last prototype is the production model. Through every process of development, the unit gets broken in before listening to it. That includes the final production model. For example, if the manufacturer claims 500 hours for break in, that's the standard. So, when they sell an amp to a customer, the customer need to put 500 hours break in time on it. After that, the customer and the manufacturer have an amp that sounds exactly the same.

Also, I never inferred that production units are deliberately out of adjustment/calibration. What's to adjust? Break in is a passive process. I just don't see what's so complicated about all this. If you don't believe in break in, fine. Its an issue that will take care of itself over time regardless of belief.