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Break in blues

I just don't have the patience anymore to wait for components to settle in.That's the only caveat with having tubed components - ya can't leave em on 24/7 to speed up the process:( I have the little cartoon devil and angel on my shoulders.The devil is ocd "You've obviously made a mistake!After 3 days and 12 ENTIRE HOURS this thing sounds horrible!!Bright,congested,arrgh!!" The angel tries to sooth me"Turn it down,go do something else,don't listen at all until it's clocked in at 50 hours. "To be fair then the right thing to do is after an initial listen to some favorite tracks to give it another 50 hours then make a decision.Sigh....
So the devil suggested I swap cables and by golly he was right this time.Everything is playing together much better now.The old Gabriel Gold cable that sounded so sweet with the Rogue preamp was totally incompatible with the new Microzotl2.The new/old cable is a Siltech Paris.
The angel is a bit miffed but now at least I can get a feel for if it's a keeper or not before the deadline to return it arrives.What I like to do is play it at low volume for 4-5 hours each day then listen at the end of that period to see how it's coming along.It's been a few years since I've bought anything new and I don't remember ever being this anxious before.I don't remember auditioning a component that seemed to sound totally different day by day.Out of the box the Microzotl was excellent,next day bass heavy,next day the GLARE!Today with the new cable excellent.So if tomorrow is also excellent the angel and I will have learned something new.Cables do sound different from each other but I've never come across a situation where one was majorly incompatible.

128x128jtcf
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Gosh, I did not know that. 😳
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mickeyb
578 posts
 
Had a vintage Sansui tube amp recapped and when it broke it was like I just started an acid trip. It was that severe. Went from bland to 3D. Took about 100hrs. There were over 30 oil caps and re-stuffing of the power caps but man did it make a difference. 
michaelgreenaudio's avatar
michaelgreenaudio
1,019 posts
 

Hi jtcf

Here's a rule of thumb (a broadly accurate guide or principle, based on experience or practice rather than theory). Anytime you read someone can not hear breakin (burnin) "run". If someone is not able to hear audio differences in this hobby, they're the last one you should be taking sound advice from.

On this forum, and others, there are folks who come up and write purely for the sake of being noticed or boredom. Fact is, audio is a process that is in a continuum of change. Every second you listen change is happening. Learning to practice and play our systems is where we will find the sound that the "non-doers" will never have.

Don't pay attention to those who say they have been doing this hobby for 40 years, it means zero if they can't hear a simple thing like burnin. If a hobbyist can't hear burnin it means one of two things. One, their system is full of signal blockage (a common problem with HEA systems), and two, they simply can not hear the change. In either case they are not qualified to give advice on something they haven't experienced.

Debating if burnin exist is like asking a vegetarian how a burger taste.

anyway, now I'm hungry

Michael Green

jtcf's avatar
jtcf OP
1,620 posts
 
Geez!I was just ranting a bit is all.The little amp is sounding great since cable swapping.Tubed components do need to break in a while IMHO.After 25hours or so they're about 90% there.My anxiety stemmed from how it was sounding way different from day to day.And the naysayers are sort of right in this instance - it shouldn't have changed sonics radically like it seemed to be.That first cable for whatever reason was causing a problem.
I've been an audio geek for many years too,but mostly lurk rather than post.I type so slowly it's more fun to read the debates than to get a word in;)
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