2. digital
  3. 1243557256

Cambridge 840c burn in

So, I got a new 840C a few weeks ago and I’m kind of surprised by how dramatically the sound has changed. When I was demoing it in the store it was a box fresh unit and very bright sounding, but compared to the other players I was comparing it to it had much better bass and general clarity. I’d read here on A-gon that the burn-in would yield significant results so I took a chance and bought it. My initial thought at home was that I’d made a huge mistake – it was almost unlistenable bright. But I ran it 24/7 for almost two weeks and every day it got a bit better. Then, just yesterday, now at about 350 hours or so, all the residual high-end glare disappeared. It sounds great.

Does anyone have any thoughts on what is actually happening within the machine that is ‘breaking in’? It seems counterintuitive with a bunch of wires and caps, but it is a real phenomenon in this machine. I guess any other player too for that matter. I’m just curious.

I’m enjoying the player immensely by the way. It’s a huge improvement over my Jolida JD100, which is now doing duty in the upstairs system.
grimace
stephenurquhart
22 posts
 
I tried the 840C for a week at could not stand the brightness. So if I had purchased it and burned it in for 300-350 hours the brightness would have gone away?
stevecham
3,340 posts
 
My 840c now has 1 week of steady play on it and I would not characterize it at all as "bright." It sounds very natural, like good vinyl, with excellent extension and a wide and deep soundstage. I couldn't be happier with this purchase and am considering getting a second one to replace my aging Merdian 508.24 in my main system.

It's that good.
grimace OP
624 posts
 
just to update this... I've had the 840C in my system for about two months now and maybe I'm kidding myself, but I would swear the sound continued to smooth out for at least six weeks. It's to the point now where cds that used to think were hopelessly bright actually sound pretty good, and well recorded material sounds fantastic. It's a cooler sound compared to my old tube Jolida, but the clarity is much higher, and the bass is terrific. I know there are more expensive and likely better players - Esoteric, Wadia, etc. - but for the $$ this thing is really sweet.
bigswede
20 posts
 
Try different interconnects too; I found my 840C is very sensitive to IC synergy. It hated the Cardas Neutral Reference that my previous CDP liked, didn't even sound any better than my 10 year old Denon. Then I tried Zu Varial XLRs and it was a huge difference, amazing.
bluesbob
3 posts
 
Just picked up mine yesterday. I have to say it sounds better in some ways, right out of the box, than how I remember my old AA DDSPro>I2S>DTI Pro32>I2S>DDEv3 (w/SP2). Definitely smoother treble, maybe not as much bass, but clearer. I expect the bass and lower mids to develop and the soundstage to get deeper after break-in (or burn-in). Right now the presentation is a little lightweight, but the soundstage is wider than the speakers, which I consider a good thing.
I wish I could afford the Wadia 381 (or the BCD1), but I can't. I actually had to use my birthday as a pretext for spending as much as I did. Hope it pays off, after burn-in of course.
More to discover