I will be Ok with your rule aiming at me if you go at the number 1000...
We will quit together ...😊
More than 10,000 posts and you should be kicked off this site.
Are You A Disciplined Audiophile?
The issue of whether break-in is real aside for now, when you make a change in your system, such as a new component or cable, do you have the discipline to wait before making any other changes? I usually mark my calendar for a month and perhaps 2 months and try to change nothing else for that period of time so I can better assess exactly what the new thing is doing. But sometimes it’s difficult to wait. IMO, break in is a real thing, both in the component and the listener, but even if you don’t believe components and cables change after a few days, can you wait at least a month to listen to enough music to adjust your ears to what the new thing brings to the system on its own?
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@mahgister is right to question my motives. I am either very arrogant, a troll, or perhaps I'm trying to bring some sanity to this hobby. I expect to piss people off because I do not try to avoid it. If that makes me arrogant to mahgister then so be it. A cable does not sound different or better after 10 hours of use, after 10 years of use or after 10 minutes of use. The same goes for electronics, tonearms and turntables. I have never heard a cartridge break in although I can think of reasons one might. Most loudspeakers do not break in, they only break down, the law of entropy. Planar magnetics and ESLs do break in because the membranes loosen. Ribbons just get worse. So, why do so many people think equipment "breaks in'? Because they perceive an improvement in sound quality. There are a zillion reasons people hear an improvement in their systems, but the main one is because they expect to hear an improvement and they get use to the sound (accomodation) validating their expectations. Many of us are quite aware of the neuropsychiatric aspects of hearing and account for it in our evaluations. Many are not aware of the tricks our brains can play on us. These perceptions seem as real as any, but they are an illusion. The problem for me it that many people create livelihoods taking advantage of this and they know darn well that they are scamming people. It appears that people like being scammed judging by the outrage at my comments. I have seen people in the audio business use the " It has not broken in yet" excuse for an unhappy customer knowing than in a few days or weeks the person will accommodate and whatever it is will sound better. Many audiophiles I know enjoy getting stoned. The music always sounds better when you are stoned, you notice details you gloss over when sober. The system is performing exactly the same , but boy does it sound better when you change your neurochemistry a little. I am intrinsically a negative person. I tend to focus on flaws and not positive attributes. You can't fix problems unless you identify them. My system never sounds as good as I know it can. There are always problems to chase. If this hobby were easy it would not be any fun. However. I think we should romanticize over music and not silver tonearm wiring. |
First mijostyn i must compliment you... You never intentionally with some backtought insult people since the 8 years i know you here... I want to be clear about that... You are as i can appear myself sometimes if not arrogant too much certain about your idea ...😊
Once this is said... All new piece of gear do not break in ... As cables or other piece...
but for example my amplifier takes times to reach his maximum high optimal working... The reason is in the quote above you had not read at all ... The same is true for my AKG K340 headphone an hybrid with a crossover ... It takes 20 minutes to work at his optimal ... Now i bought a Morrow cable and i experimented first hand that it take a break-in ... I do not live through this with other cheaper cables ... Then be less arrogant or less certain and read the quote above and let sink this in ... A pack of electronic parts new must certainly reacted differently the first day and after one year of use or after 20 years ... if i was alone i will not dare to oppose your dogma...But i am not alone... Are you the only enlightened man on audiogon with the measuring only crowd ? But it is a dogma your opinion cannot be proved, on the opposite the coupling of very discerning ears and electronics experimented changes according to usage ... In your simplistic view all is stable on the gear and all is illusions in the hearing brain .. How simple is your universe .... mine is not so simplistic ... 😊
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It varies from equipment to equipment, ime. Some DACs, i could never notice a sonic change. The manufacturer could have burnt it in before they shipped some models. Yamaha amps, for example, go through a distinct change in sound after around a 100+ hours of use. It was clearly noticeable on my former A-S2100 (which i didn’t record). I made it a point to record it on future Yamaha amps, i.e., 0hr playback and 100+ hours of playback on my former A-S3000 and current M5000 to prove that i wasn’t losing my mind. Pass amps, the break-in is a bit more subtle, not as blatantly obvious as Yamaha. Speakers can be fairly quick to break-in depending on how you do it... The whole "it takes months and months to burn crap is the dealer pulling a fast one for closing the return window. If he made his 10k+ cut on something, he certainly doesn’t wanna take a return.
On a different note, @mijostyn , Here’s a video on how to measure driver break-in for your viewing pleasure. Try it/experiment with it/measure it yourself at home with a couple of new drivers. |
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