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Conditioning/Burn-In Method

DISCLAIMER
Potentially controversial subject matter ahead. Thus post is recommended for mature audiences only. If you're in the school of thought that cables are voodoo, this post is not for you, please move among.

Now, to business.

I'm in the process of working in a set of Signal Cable Silver Resolution XLR interconnects between my DAC, Preamp and Amplifier. So far, I probably have only 20 hours or so of play, and if memory serves, Frank recommends 60 hours or more. Given the difference in amplitude from DAC to Preamp, and from Preamp to Amplifier, do you guys think it might be worth swapping them out (rotating them) to help balance and perhaps accelerate the process?

Thanks in advance!

parabolic
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,574 posts
 
And, as others have said, get something like Ayre's Irrational but  Efficacious! CD burn in disc, along with swapping out the ICs. 

All the best,
Nonoise
gdnrbob
4,411 posts
 
Perhaps I should add a disclaimer, but...

Why is it so odious to just let thing break in, in their own time.
Is 60, 200, 500 hours so long?
I have found that just listening and hearing small differences, sometimes big differences, to be very satisfying.
B
hifiman5's avatar
hifiman5
1,823 posts
 
@gdnrbob   They say patience is a virtue.  You, sir, are more virtuous than most audiophiles I suspect.😇
taww's avatar
taww
124 posts
 
I use an old iPod Nano (remember those?) as my break in source, playing a mixture of music, signal sweeps and white noise MP3s (XLO has one available for free download) on auto repeat for a week. If you have a FM tuner laying around that works too but I like being able to make a playlist of things. 

If you are reasonably handy you can terminate the cables with a load resistor around 100 ohms to get a lot more current through the cable. You don't even need to solder or use jacks, test leads with alligator clips will do. If I need more power I use a Dayton T-amp and a 4 ohm load resistor. This stuff is not that complicated and you do not need to buy any fancy discs or equipment...
parabolic OP
106 posts
 
Fair questions and points.

@gdnrbob, because I'm also breaking in the speaker cables, running at higher volumes for 10 or more hours a day just isn't possible, especially since I work from home.

@taww, I did set a play list of about 10 hours worth, and going with Elizabeth's suggestion, I'm running in the ICs, but I do need to also work on the speaker cables. Is the 100ohm resistor something I could pick up locally? Someone also suggested a 200watt light bulb... would that work?
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