Cable Break In for the Naysayers

     Back in March 2022: a thread about power cords and break/burn-in was started.

     I hate to type, so: I'm going to copy/paste some of my speculations.

     That a highly complex musical signal, MIGHT affect Poynting vectors and signal speeds*, in interconnects, in a much more profound manner than a simple AC (ie: a fixed 60/50 Hz) signal, in a PC, seems likely (at least) to me, as; in EVERY formula regarding *those two, a signal's frequency (frequencies) always factors in greatly.

     Further: the above and what I'll c/p (seems to me) lends credence to how the application of a stronger, DC voltage/field, outside a dielectric (ala Synergistic MPC and Audioquest DBS systems), might stabilize those vectors and signal speeds, PERHAPS eliminating some time smear and, "burn-in". 

rodman99999 5,456 posts 03-31-2022 at 12:13am    @holmz-       Bear with me a minute, in my folly, far as a possibility on why a power cord might make a difference.       Based on some of the theories on how electricity works, simplified:       The conductor acts as a waveguide for the signal/voltage.       Within the conductor: when excited by an AC current, electrons oscillate, generating photons/electromagnetic waves that travel, always from the source, to the load.        Keep in mind: all signals (ie: music, AC) are sinusoidal  waves        Those photons/electromagnetic waves travel through and outside the dielectric, which (according to it's permittivity/Poynting vectors) will have various effects on those waves.    One of the most obvious is the dielectric's effect on the speed of the signal.       The better designers of printed circuit boards, even take the above into account, when choosing materials for their products.        I posted a link on the first page that included data on the manufacture of semiconductor chips and what was observed when materials were cryo'd, during the process.     Short version: better contact/lowered resistance between layers.           Under the scanning microscope: much smoother surfaces observed.        I would hope, by now, it's a given that various cable constructions, twists, braids, etc, can make for a cleaner transmission of signals (ie: Litz, etc).                     Just seems to me (a hypothesis): given the above (some theories and some things established/measured/proven), it's not a big stretch to believe a power cord, built of the best conductor (ie: Ohno CC silver), wrapped in a very low dielectric coefficient dielectric (ie: Teflon), cryo'd for the smoothest transfer of those photons/magnetic waves and twisted in some crazy way, might not smooth out some of perturbations/noise, from the crap an AC waveform had to go through, back to it's generator.  (run-on, much?)        I haven't tested this, actually comparing two circuits, but: it wouldn't surprise me, if a power supply that used a choke, would be less affected by a better power cord, as the former can eliminate a lot of the high freq garbage, etc, that's either created by, or makes it through all the big converting/filtering stuff, before.        Never thought about PCs before the good stuff hit the market, but: the Physics/QED made sense.             I tried 'em, I like 'em and the science makes my head feel better.                               Don't care WHAT it does to anyone else's!

rodman99999 5,456 posts 03-31-2022 at 12:27am         OH, and: it takes some time for the dielectric to form, take a charge, polarize, or however one chooses to define the process, when a dielectric is subjected to electromagnetic waves, which affects the Poynting vectors, measurably/predictably.                               The lower the material’s dielectric constant: the longer that takes.                                          PC (interconnect/etc)  burn-in?    Maybe?

                                                          Happy listening! 

Who is the bigger fool: The fool, or the fool that fools himself?

Optical cable break in?  C'mon now.  Exactly what is there to "break-in"?  Light bounces of the insides of a hollow glass fiber.  The light isn't energetic enough to affect the material.  The rest of it is highly questionable at best and given how incredible the placebo effect can be I'd say any perception real or not is possible....apparently.

I cook my cables between the TT, the phono stage, the preamp, the amp, and the speakers. Everything in my main systems has no problem logging at least 50-60 hours a week during the winter, about half that during summer. I don't use a steady modulation or tone, just my library. I have revisited source material after a week or two of break-in.... but I am not sophisticated enough, or my short term memory has

gone, well,

I've forgotten where

to tell the difference in cable performance in any realistic way. If something sounded unacceptable at first use I don't have the will power to keep going for some theoretical improvement from poor to wonderful. But I do, and have, secured replacements. I admit my cable budget wouldn't cover the cost of some cable isolation stands, but then I'm more Stoic than Epicurean... I don't spend too much time trying to quantify the subjective-- life is too short     I'd rather go record shopping.

I still cannot believe that in this stage of Audio history there are still many who claim cable break in isn't imagined.

Produce scientific measurements and objective evidence of it happening and you might have a reasonable argument.