Jetter, well I did stay married to my late wife for almost 30 years and kept and used my original stereo equipment for forty years. But my advice on either subject would be suspect at best.
I’ve never had "audiophile" quality cables. If I decide it’s worthwhile to purchase a relatively expensive set, I’d like to do it once and once only. I’m not into switching components, or wives for that matter, a costly endeavour in either event. I might go the interim route you suggest if I decide to defer investing in pricier cables to a later date in favor of other things outside of the audiophile realm. Thanks for your sensible advice.
Ieales, I’m suspicious of the cable burn in concept too, and have heard like you said, connectors should be moved around or cleaned every so often due to corrosion. I’ve been doing that forever, but only after the effects of that corrosion become audible. Shame on me. Congratulations on being an engineering dinosaur. I suspected you might be an engineer from the import of your posts.
I looked up the Belden 1311A cable, the in wall speaker CL3 type. It certainly seemed economical. What did you do to make it into a "in a self-designed bi-wire", if you don’t mind my asking? For a couple of short ten foot lengths I might be able to replicate what you’ve done I’ve done a fair amount of wiring in my day, mostly home and hydronics stuff like building a relay station, so maybe I could pull it off. I’ll check out your link. Maybe you explained it there.
Sounds like you and your friend listened to some good music on fine equipment. I auditioned my Magico A3’s in part with some 45rpm Stevie Ray Vaughn the dealer had on hand. Joe Pass, Charles Mingus, Barney Kessel, and Clifford Brown are right up my alley too. I brought some Mingus to that same demo too.
Maybe I’ll try burning in my new equipment playing it for a couple days straight like you said. Hopefully the Luxman 507ux integrated amp won’t catch fire. I read it runs a bit hot. Take care,
Mike