Audio Science Review = "The better the measurement, the better the sound" philosophy

As to cartridge break-in, just admit you know nothing concerning vinyl playback.

Well, no...I won’t say I "know nothing", thank you very much. I will say I’m far from an expert and try not to make strong claims that aren't backed up with good evidence.

But, that’s me.

Am I to just fall to my knees and accept your claims as received wisdom? Or is it ok with you if I keep my critical faculties engaged?

You followed up with a bunch of claims about break in, all based on what you claim to hear. Perhaps you did hear break in. But then audiophiles believe they can hear everything under the sun - imagination and listener bias is, sorry, a fact of life and I see no reason to pretend it isn’t a variable. So, again, given I have seen many people with technical knowledge refute claims about break in, if an audiophile is going to claim break in I’ll wait for stronger evidence, in the form of measurements (or blind listening tests). You can do you, I can do me.

I had never heard of ASR until I saw a post about Synergistic Research cable and snake oil. I found my prior purchase of a Foundation digital cable really bad in my system. I was offered a trial of their 3rd from the top. I tried it and was blown away at how superior it made my digital system sound. So, I followed the link and wound up with the CD trimmer comment. I made my comment and was pilloried. Further comments came with character assassinations, innuendo and just perverting my initial neutral statements concerning the trimmer, SR cable and whatever. I got mad but mentioned my recording history and work with studios. Nope, just got worse.

Despite being blocked on my Chrome IP, I easily access the site now which is why i know about current postings. I am no dummy, I started using computers full time in 1982 (I am not inferring that anyone who is not computer literate or a late comer to computers is a dummy, just that I can write programming for the software that I used in the past).

I was really mad when I began this forum. Nearly all long time Audiogon posters on this forum see what ASR is about and how angry they are at us for using our hearing ability to determine what is most pleasing in the reproduction of music. Measurements are important. Lack of measurements or less than optimal measurements does not condemn a product. Good listening determines if the result is favorable or not.

Okay, how many vinyl listening Audiogoners claim that cartridges break-in or don’t?

@prof denies what he doesn’t hear or know. Yes, if you can’t hear a cartridge break-in on a good sounding system, you could be suffering with a bad short/long term sonic memory, inadequate vinyl playback system, etc. I’m at a loss here. I have never met someone who does not believe that cartridge’s break-in with use and change their sonic characteristics and usually set-up requirements. I’ve spoken to many cartridge distributors over 50 years and they all said wait until the cartridge break-in to hear what it can do.

I want to know what profession or professor of @prof is as his handle indicates?

fleschler

How do you determine the truth of claims, in your method?

Let's say a manufacturer makes claims about an expensive new digital cable.

Your ultimate method of adjudicating that claim, as far as I can see, is whether you listen and  hear a difference from another cable, or not.

So let's say Audiophile "A" listens and says "I hear an improvement in the sound" and audiophile "B" listens to the SAME set up and concludes "sorry, there is no difference in the sound."

Who is right?  They've both used precisely the same method yet arrived at contrary conclusions.

Is the audiophile who claims to hear a difference ALWAYS in the right?

Dang it guys. Any electromechanical device (loudspeakers/phono cartridges) will break-in. How long does that take? Beats me. Then we have electronic components. They need to burn-in to reach their final electrical state. How long does that take? Ask the manufacturer. And finally, we have cables. Do they need to be burned-in? I don't know but if somebody says it took X hours for a new cable to sound right, I have no reason not to believe them regardless of what the mechanism might be, even if it's their brain adjusting to the new sound. So, what's the problem that needs to be disputed?