2. misc-audio
  3. 137261-94635

Value of burn/break in?

I have my first hi end audio system. I fired it up, popped in a cd, and it doesn't have the vibrant sound that I thought it might have. I have a slightly used demo power amp from a dealer, slightly used demo speakers from a dealer, but a brand new tube preamp. 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
easola01
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
In the case of cables and wire, especially tonearm wire, interconnects but also any wire, complete burn in never occurs without resorting to some break in means other than simply playing music for several hours a day, or even ten hours a day. This can be easily demonstrated by using the AudioDharma burn in machine on cables that have already been broken in for, say, two years or whatever while in the system. Music is neither the optimum signal to achieve complete break in nor is it high enough in level. And it’s an old wives tale than fuses break in correctly no matter which way they were originally inserted. This can be shown to be false by reversing the fuses one at a time and observing by listening which ones were inserted in the correct direction and which ones weren’t.
vtvmtodvm
66 posts
 

All vacuum tubes exhibit continuous long term drift when put into service—plate current falls and grid bias shifts. This gradual slide reflects a persistent degradation that begins at initial turn-on and ultimately ends in cathode depletion failure. (Barring other common modes of premature demise, e.g. open filaments, vacuum leaks, gassing, microphonics, atypical distortion, excessive hum/noise.) So vacuum tubes are not a wise choice when stable circuit performance is a serious design goal.


easola01's avatar
easola01 OP
161 posts
 
Thank you. I have a Jolida Fusion Preamp with a level 1 upgrade as follows:

Replacement of 13 capacitors with Clarity Cap ESAs. Gold pin 12AX7 tubes.
easola01's avatar
easola01 OP
161 posts
 
Thank you. I have a Jolida Fusion Preamp with a level 1 upgrade as follows:

Replacement of 13 capacitors with Clarity Cap ESAs. Gold pin 12AX7 tubes.
wolf_garcia
6,794 posts
 
If you prefer the sound of pre "burned in" gear you have to turn the whole thing off for several days (or sometimes months) between listening sessions, and those sessions have to take place right after you power up the system and for no longer than an hour or so.
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