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break in

Do you ever not purchase something because of the time it takes for it to break in? I personally consider it when I am looking a another component. For instance if the fall season rolls around and I think about spending more time listening to music I do not like to go through 150 or more hours of break in and not enjoy my listening sessions as well. I have had things take much longer than 300 hours to settle to that level I like. And I don't like to leave my stuff running 24/7 just to break in, so that doesn't work for me.
And on a side note can you roughly guess at how many total hours of break in you have had on all your equipment?  Things I can think of to avoid some break in is get used items or integrated components like amps and such. I take those things into consideration when I am looking at equipment.  

marqmike
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,871 posts
 
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.
marqmike OP
843 posts
 
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.
stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,441 posts
 
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.
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,478 posts
 
break in, schmake in.....just listen to the music
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,903 posts
 
Marqmike, I like that we can both approach that destination of listening pleasure from different perspectives. "All roads lead to.." kind of thinking.
Also, I can empathize with your loss of pleasure when things don't come together. I got into this hobby with the express purpose of deriving pleasure. I tried not to get caught up with the equipment but that turned out to be a fool's errand on my part. The break in part I had to settle with and learned later to appreciate so as to not go nuts.

All the best,
Nonoise
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