Value of burn/break in?

@easola01, I previously bought a new Ayon CD-5s tube cdp which I ran as a rbcd player & line stage. To accelerate the break in process I ran an Isotek Full System Enhancer cd when I was at work or out of the house. It is supposed to more thoroughly burn in the component by giving it a ’work out’ via specific algorithmic signals, as well as demagnetize the system. From memory, it roughly halves the normal run in time. More recently I bought a Purist Audio Luminist System Enhancer cd which is supposed to be even better, however I haven’t tried it yet.

It should be noted some manufacturers post warnings in Instruction manuals to avoid using burn in cd’s. I think that’s to mitigate against the few dodgy burn in cd’s which exist and the doofuses who use them. All I can say is I had no issue whatsoever running the Isotek cd on my Ayon. The two cds I mentioned above are probably the best. Cheers.

Agree with the above answers. Leave the SS on 24/7 and if you work daytime hours then leave the tube preamp on in the evening and overnight.

I've used the Isotek disk to burn-in the entire system. It will speed up the break in time on the speakers.

roberjerman
Tube equipment I like to turn on early in the day and shut off in the evening after listening is done. You may choose to do the same!

That’s neither break-in or burn-in. It’s warm-up.

A friend of mine told me that I will see a huge difference in sound quality once the tube preamp breaks in. I was wondering if I should get a break in cd or just wait till normal listening does the job.

Assuming the tube preamp does not contain significant digital circuitry, whether it is playing music or simply powered up and playing nothing makes very little difference in the amount of current conducted by the tubes and pretty much everything else in it. So I would expect that simply leaving it on would break it in as effectively as normal listening. (That is not necessarily true for most power amps and many digital components, btw).

I have no opinion about breakin CDs, though, as I’ve never used one and I have no particular knowledge of the technical characteristics of the signals they provide.

Also, given that the power amp and the speakers are "slightly used," and might have sat unused for much of the time they were in the dealer’s shop, I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that their breakin state might be more of a factor in what you are perceiving than the preamp’s.

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al

almarg
I have no opinion about breakin CDs, though, as I’ve never used one and I have no particular knowledge of the technical characteristics of the signals they provide.

Generally the signal is a mixed sinusoid White and or Pink noise mid range signal played at a moderately high level continuously for a minimum of a few days up to two weeks or more. Works like a charm for everything in the signal path. As I mentioned earlier one can easily hear the improvements over the course of the burn in.