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Cable Burn In

I'm new here and new to the audiophile world. I recently acquired what seems to be a really high end system that is about 15 years old. Love it. Starting to head down the audiophile rabbit hole I'm afraid.

But, I have to laugh (quietly) at some of what I'm learning and hearing about high fidelity.

The system has really nice cables throughout but I needed another set of RCA cables. I bit the bullet and bought what seems to be a good pair from World's Best Cables. I'm sure they're not the best you can get and don't look as beefy as the Transparent RCA cables that were also with this system. But, no sense bringing a nice system down to save $10 on a set of RCA cables, I guess.

Anyway, in a big white card on the front of the package there was this note: In big red letters "Attention!". Below that "Please Allow 175 hours of Burn-in Time for optimal performance."

I know I'm showing my ignorance but this struck me as funny. I could just see one audiophile showing off his new $15k system to another audiophile and saying "Well, I know it sounds like crap now but its just that my RCA cables aren't burned-in yet. Just come back in 7.29 days and it will sound awesome."
n80
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lowrider57
5,417 posts
 
Many cable manufacturers use the term "settling in." A new cable has been manufactured, then coiled into a package and now you are installing it in your system. I believe the settling in process has to do with introducing current into the cable and its interaction between the conductor and the dielectric (or insulation) on a molecular level.

There are so many different cable designs with different substances being used for dielectrics and many different types of metallurgy being used as conductors. The EE measuring parameters with a scope may see a consistent signal, but who’s to say definitively that there is no audible change in the cable after it’s "broken in."


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shadorne
7,477 posts
 
@n80

It’s a mad mad world. Some audiophiles will believe any tomfoolery that any tomfool cares to invent. It’s a mugs game for the unscrupulous who spend hours here promulgating “fear marketing” that says folks are not getting the best out of their precious system without an endless number of ridiculous tweaks. It just shows you that people are terribly unreliable at any kind of precision or sonic memory. Our senses are rather whimsical and clearly influenced by many factors such as mood and expectation. I guess this is why we always use instruments to make precise measurements in hospitals, engineeering, manufacturing, home inspection, food production etc.

The greatest nonsense is that although none of these tweaks can provide any measurable results they are always claimed anecdotally to provide the greatest sound improvements the user has ever encountered. Complete nonsense. Cable burn in is complete nonsense too.
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geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
shadorne
It’s a mad mad world. Some audiophiles will believe any tomfoolery that any tomfool cares to invent. It’s a mugs game for the unscrupulous who spend hours here promulgating “fear marketing” that says folks are not getting the best out of their precious system without an endless number of ridiculous tweaks.

>>>>>>Shadorne, I suspect you’ve completely psyched yourself out over this tweak stuff. You actually have no subjective or scientific evidence to support your rather extreme and dreary position that nothing works and everything’s a scam. What a dreadful and sad little corner you’ve painted yourself into. There’s a thin line between mad, mad, mad and sad, sad, sad. 😢
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lak
4,643 posts
 
There are countless threads debating the break-in process on the internet in general as well as Audiogon. I'm not going to debate it, but suggest you do a search on the Audiogon threads or Google. When you get some quality listening time in be the judge for yourself.
BTW @n80 did you also mention aftermarket power cords and AC duplex outlets...;-)
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
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@geoffkait

Geoff, On the contrary, I am happy and sleep peacefully knowing that the bogeyman doesn’t exist and is not hiding under my bed or causing strange distortions in my hi-fi. I am happy not needing to buy voodoo tweaks or strange pebbles or silly fuses or mats or contact paste or holy blessed interconnects or wooden oryx horn shaped stands or cup shaped trinkets and quantum speaker wires - happy knowing that none of this is in the least bit beneficial or necessary.

I am happier because I can devote my energy, focus and wallet on things that actually make a difference but even more importantly, I can simply enjoy listening to beautiful music without the least concern or worry in the world that I am missing out because some paranormal mumbo jumbo is limiting my setup.
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