break in

I'm of the other mind on break in. Sorry, but everything needs to break in to some degree. To me, it's no biggie to leave something on 24/7 for a few days. All it takes is to put on some FM station at low volume and go about my business. I also take pleasure in interrupting said break in and giving it a listen to see how it's faring. And then a week or so later, done.

As for total hours of break in, I really can't put a number on that one. Some components were assembled around the same time and they don't all take the same time to settle in so it'd be a rough hazard of a guess and not informative in the least. What I can say is, even after something has broken in, to my satisfaction, it's always nice to find out I was wrong and something wonderful happens to further increase my listening pleasure. I always liked that.

All the best,
Nonoise

I appreciate that Nonoise. And it is a treat to have some unexpected improvement small though it may be. The pleasure of a finely tuned system.
I like that emotional response to music and when my system is a little off as it is during break in it just loses that for me and my other system sound much better at that time, my car even can sound better. But I kind of depend on my system for emotional support a little bit and I miss it when it is not quite there.

It's not like you can't listen through a component that isn't fully broken in. I mean, the sound isn't so bad as to be unlistenable, is it? It's only a matter of degree, right? How spoiled are we?! No offense intended Mike!---Eric.

No offense Eric. I pretty sure your being funny and serious. I laughed at your comment if thats ok. It is good to laugh at ourselves. I am probably acting spoiled.
I still enjoy my music but not near as much as after break in. Maybe I love sound more than music but when the system is noticeably off I don't connect as well. Sometimes I just want to hear the weepy blues of an acoustic guitar and the setting it'seems in, and it isn't the same as when something is breaking in. Somethings sound fine, some real good, some kind of ugly when it's breaking in.

I believe in break in but up to a point.  If I insert a new component into my system and the sound sucks, no amount of break in will magicly make it sound better.  I learned that the hard way.  The only component that I noticed a big difference in was my Odyssey amps.  They sounded great out of the box and sounded even better after a few weeks.  Break in would never stop me from getting a new piece of equipment.