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Cartridge burn-in

Hi to all analog friends here,

Any time I purchase a new cartridge, when I set it up and sit down to listen to it, I cringe a little. It always sounds stiff, harsh, glassy, shrill. Then, after a few days/weeks of playing, it appears to 'break in' and start sounding relaxed, more musical, sweeter, less straining, presenting the music with better flow and finesse.

Common wisdom teaches that the cartridge, being a mechanical component, needs to loosen up its suspension. So, the only way to really hear what the cartridge is capable of is to play it for at the minimum 20 to 30 hours (some sources even say 50 hours).

OK, makes sense (kinda). But an alternative explanation is also possible: whenever we replace our current cartridge with a new one, the new one will sound different. Maybe it is this different, unfamiliar sonic character of the new cartridge that is causing us to feel that the sound is harsh, metallic, unpleasant, strenuous? Then, after a few days/weeks with the new cartridge, our ears and our listening habits get adjusted to the new type of sound, and we grow to like it.

This gradual conditioning to the new type of sound is then called 'cartridge break-in'. But maybe the cartridge doesn't really break-in; maybe it is our ears and our listening habits that gradually break-in and get accustomed to the new sound?

What do you think?

crazybookman
tablejockey
3,916 posts
 

Just another thing we audiophools think we need to quantify and come up with techno explanations.

So you buy a $10K cart for your uber setup, install it and it sounds...just okay, because you have to "wait" for a "breakin?"

I don't think so.

Your cart properly setup should sound essentially as good as it will right out of the box.

Things need to "loosen up" and so on...I'll buy that to some degree, but essentially you should get what you paid for.... right from the get-go.

crazybookman OP
24 posts
 

essentially you should get what you paid for.... right from the get-go.

I wish that were the case. But any time I install a brand new cartridge (regardless of the price), at first I get annoyed by the stiff, strenuous sound. After a few days, that impression recedes and the cartridge starts sounding nicer, sweeter, more musical.

So, to repeat my question: is the cartridge really breaking in, or are my ears starting to get used to the new sound?

 

ghdprentice
7,060 posts
 

The cartridge is breaking in. I have been an audiophile for nearly fifty years and into philosophy, which has turned into a passion about cognitive and developmental psychology. Your mechanical / electrical cartridge is breaking in. Just because after images are real does not mean your senses are wrong all the time. I can hear breakin on amps up to 1,000 hours. As crazy as I thought that was, my own observation proved otherwise,

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,192 posts
 

I agree the cartridge sound changes as it is breaking in. I’ve noticed this with the Hana ML that I recently acquired.
So here’s a cartridge break in process related stupid question…will leaving the cartridge resting on a record without actually playing it help speed up the cartridge break in process…at least as far as suspension is concerned? Just curious has anyone done that and noticed that it helped?

rvpiano's avatar
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rvpiano
2,667 posts
 

audphile1,

I wouldn’t try it. I bent the stylus of my previous $1000+ cartridge by leaving the needle on the stopped record and accidentally shifting it with my hand.

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