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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
blueranger's avatar
blueranger
719 posts
 
I have a Duotech cable burner that has a setting for interconnects and speaker wire. Earlier this year I was burning in some new interconnects and after 2 days had realized I had used the speaker wire setting. I hooked them up to my stereo and they sounded horrible. No dimension and flat sounding. I knew they would settle back in like the exact other models in my system and they did. What's the point is that cable burn in does change the sound. I had some silver cables that sounded strident and I finally just burned them a week. When I plugged them in they sounded much better.

butch01
5 posts
 
Having been addicted to this wonderful hobby since 1965, I have heard all sorts of claims. Some are true, many are just a different  brand of snake oil. In my own experiences,component burn-in, warm up time, power supply and matching, all have a seat at the table. 

As one example, I auditioned a new pair of speaker cables a few years ago. They went through a partial burn-in by the manufacturer. Upon installation, I put a favorite CD on repeat, 24/7. For the next 90 days, I listened to at least 15 minutes of that CD and 45 minutes to 2hrs of others, every day. I kept a daily journal. The change was not to be denied!  I returned them, but that's another story. Some of us can hear the difference and some of us can't. My wife can't,  but I don't hold it against her. 
 
Happy listening
marsrecords
24 posts
 
I have been involved with hifi both consumer and high end .. I have heard 100's of systems go thru burn in and have heard changes not just my system but many systems over a period of years .. ignore the haters 
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
mapman
There are only two paradigms really for how people approach things based on technology like hifi.

First is is the one I subscribe to which is try my hardest to understand how things work and use that knowledge to guide the way. That is how all new real technological innovations work.

The other is to rely mainly on faith in lieu of actual knowledge to guide the way.

Many things in in life are beyond human understanding and best handled by a combo of both.

Audio it is not one of those things. It is best handled by acquiring real knowledge. Hearsay alone may not deliver truly great results. Things that cannot be explained essentially translate to happening by magic ie nobody can factually account for what is observed.

>>>>>To summarize, a sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

”If I could explain it to the average guy they wouldn’t have given me the Nobel prize.” - Richard Feynman.

”Knowledge can be defined as what’s left after you subtract all the stuff you forgot from school.” - old audiophile axiom

prof
3,471 posts
 
@nonoise

Is this "engineer" who used to work for a cable company who all naysayers say is good enough for audiophiles and who appears to make little on his cables wrong?



I don't know.  He might be.  Again...the company he left does not see it necessary to make any such claims.  That an engineer who left Belden makes claims about burn-in doesn't mean it's true.

Has he offered anything other than anecdote or opinion on the subject?  Like, showing measurable differences between his cables when new vs burned in?  


@blueranger

I have a Duotech cable burner that has a setting for interconnects and speaker wire. Earlier this year I was burning in some new interconnects and after 2 days had realized I had used the speaker wire setting. I hooked them up to my stereo and they sounded horrible. No dimension and flat sounding. I knew they would settle back in like the exact other models in my system and they did. What's the point is that cable burn in does change the sound. I had some silver cables that sounded strident and I finally just burned them a week. When I plugged them in they sounded much better.


Yes there are many such anecdotes from audiophiles.  But I'm left wondering: what in the world do you think is actually *happening* to the cables to "ruin" the sound in your scenario?    What could the technical explanation possibly be?

@butch01

I listened to at least 15 minutes of that CD and 45 minutes to 2hrs of others, every day. I kept a daily journal. The change was not to be denied!



But our perception changes too.  Many of us have commiserated on how our systems can seem uninvolving or flat one day, but fantastic the next day.   The fact is our perception is very elastic and subject to all sorts of factors, from mood, state of mind, our expectations, what we are concentrating on at the time when listening, etc.  Your journal may well have simply detailed changes in your own mind, not the wire.  The problem is with these anecdotes, these variables are left tangled.



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