The molecular level explanation of "cable burn-in"

I tend to agree with this statement. We measure what we CAN measure, and the measurements prove or disprove corresponding preconceived explanations of natural phenomena. So far so good. But there is a certain circularity at work: these measurements are meant to take ambiguity out of answers to certain questions only. But how about questions which have not been asked yet, either because they're considered silly, or because the underlying phenomena had not yet been noticed. As an example from my own line of work: only two generations ago, questions asking for a link between immunology and cancer were considered besides the point. I one wanted to do research in this area, funding was almost impossible to come by, because one was trying to link two separate disciplines with their own funding priorities. Only the tenacity of a determined few found out that cancer and immunology are intimately linked, leading to a completely new approach to cancer therapy (monoclonal antibodies against check-point inhibitors) and saving countless of lives in our days. Back to audio: psychoacoustics is a field of research that brings the disciplines of psychology and physiology in touch with acoustics and electronics. Now we are tasked to ask new questions and devise experiments and measurements which will provide new answers. That is how scientific progress works.

     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!

Unfortunately there are no measurement data or mathematical formulas to be found to back up this amazing scientific discovery. Simply “it happens”.

     I suppose: if one is determined to ignore* the facts/data gleaned, over the past’s many decades of experimentation in QED, as well as basic Electrical Theory; they may choose to infer & believe such simplistic silliness.

                             *willful ignorance = the heart of Dunning- Kruger

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So far all I hear is that different insulating materials, because of their dielectric strength affect the current running through them but there is nothing in the literature that I'm familiar with that explains any sort of permanent change, molecular alteration, rearrangement of the atoms in the insulation in a permanent way to explain "breaking in" of a cable.  If anyone has read or knows some actual science behind this, please let us know.  Anyone?  @kingsleuy though made an interesting point about reactance in "how the cable reacts to the counter emf that the unit is trying to push back into the power cord".  Richard Heyser at Cal Tech's JPL studied this phenomenon and would publish its effects along with the rest of his reviews on speakers for "Audio Magazine", still I think, was the best reviewer out their on speaker systems and those amazing "polar plots"; well I'm getting off subject.