For Your Edification and Enjoyment re "Burn In", etc.

Thank you Douglas, very daring of you to publish that here. I like people who are willing to expose themselves to ridicule. My experience agrees with you whole heartedly however, there is one problem. An anecdote does not a study make. This is an opinion piece. I believe your opinion is correct but that is only my opinion. The "numbers" are not large enough to be able to draw a conclusion with certainty. It is a start for those with influence to come forward with these opinions. The manufacturers are loath to do it out of fear they might scare away market share. They tend to support the mythology.

There are people who sincerely believe they hear improvements in sound quality coming from various tweaks and break-in. They deserve a solid explanation for this result but, when you try to explain the plasticity of human hearing and audio interpretation you lose them or I lose them. I am not the best at explaining these things. Perhaps you could do an article entitled "You Only Think You Are Hearing What You Hear."  

An interesting read, Doug. I don’t doubt your observations but with a sample set of 1 (or 2 counting the 2010 "burn in" article) question the validity of your conclusion(s) as general truth applicable to all systems/listeners. I do admire your courage though!

Note - My (now somewhat redundant) comment made before reading mijostyn’s response. Pretty much in agreement with him...and in particular the closing, "You Only Think You Are Hearing What You Hear." Absolutely! Ultimately, what else matters?

mijostyn, thank you for posting our thoughts. I suggest that what the supporters of tweaks/methods I compared preset anecdotal evidence and opinion. I did informal testing, which is entirely different. I agree that if conducted in the industry, it would be a much more tight study. Yes, the numbers could be bolstered by further study, but the grouping of the tweaks/methods is far stronger evidence and cannot be easily dismissed. It does support the contention that a far larger number of tweaks are also likely ineffectual. 

I am not concerned about explaining the "why" of the phenomenon involving perception that equipment seems to change performance. As I said, I also experience it and believe it is universal. Studies have been conducted often in regard to adaptation to stimuli, but in this regard audiophiles's egos seem unwilling to accept that their impressions can change over time and that might be the experience, versus the equipment changing. 

Will the industry jump on board with this? I doubt it; too much money in sales/reputation riding on the perception that there is audible "profound", "huge" etc. change over time. Many of the industry members believe it themselves to the degree that they wouldn't question their own experience. There is little hope of changing the opinion of someone so overconfident - even when confronted with evidence to the contrary. It is simply too painful for most audiophiles to consider that they really can't accurately tell whether there has been a change in sound quality over time. 

What can I say Douglas, "You’re a Peach". Not quite ripe yet, but a peach none the less.. :-)
This is a complement. BTW

I’ll offer this, I installed teflon caps in a passive external crossover.

Sounds simple. It was. It was so harsh for the first 100 hours NO ONE could listen to them. The sound was being thrown all over the place, the highs were thin and BOILED your ears. EVEN my deaf neighbor was impressed, he could hear something.. I thought I had messed up.. Well I did sort of... 250 hours it took to sound correct and sound correct they did.. Just wonderful. Two speakers face to face covered with moving blankets, 24/7 for 10 full days..

We uncovered the speakers (RM40s) and were amazed when they were moved back into position, all except the deaf neighbor..

You know how I test cables? ONE at a time always on my left ear, first for a whole week.. NEVER two at a time.. Mechanics 101, Scotty style..

Break them in the way you listen. BUT change the volume...

THEN add the right cable.. If you can’t hear a difference.. Something is wrong... REALLY wrong... It’s not the cable.. :-)

Regards