Oppo 95: Burn-in...and Fan

You've pretty much answered your own question,The least path of resistance, compression and as you say environmental stress all play a role and I'm sure many more factors we probably haven't dawned on just yet, but adaption to this is key for all life and what we call inanimate objects.It maybe a moment of brief sustained stability but in the end it will transition to what we call failure, ahh! but for a moment we have stability a prime of life and then a slow demise.One need only to look at one's own life!

This is all subjective of course but can still be measured!

I personal have not directly compared the 95 to any Hi end players save the units I had over the years Sony's, Phillips, Denon 5900 and Pioneer and many others ,but many have done direct comparisons against universal and stand alone units. I have demoed many highend players over the years from Esoteric and the like but that never transitions well when you get it home. My opinions on the unit are based on what I hear from my system and not some one elses ( which is finally the best Iv'e heard in 25 yrs at this) and are not biased in anyway. I took a gamble on the 95 and came away in "shock and awe" for what I had in my possession. only thing I had on hand was a knowledge base of what bad, good and great sound is regardless of price. I posted in another forum a year ago (as obtained one first batches of 95's)It was a "Giant killer" and I still look across the room and can't believe what this unassuming black box is capable of producing. Now that the reviews are in and comparisons have been made I'm not crazy as I thought I was! Do your research don't take my word for it! In the end It doesn't mean much at all. In a game of who will blink first I wouldn't bet against the 95!

jdub39 - not the answer I was looking for.

ESS does nothing more than precipitate latent defects -- bad solder joints, loose wiring, bad connectors and weak parts by over stressing parts mechanically, thermally and electrically. This is typically well beyond their normal operating envelopes with the objective being to induce failures in weak parts.

"Burn in" as used at the top of this thread presumes that operating new electronic components under normal stress profiles for x hours causes the normal operating parameters of electronic devices to change, always in a way that makes the sound get better. In other words, these are not RANDOM changes, even though the physical inputs are random...they always move in a direction of better sound, not worse sound.

Are you going to tell me you actually believe THAT? This is not the universe I live in.

To be clear, I fully agree such things happen with new speaker suspensions or any mechanical devices. But...the premise set forth by the OP is that the signal quality out of a CD player improves after the first x hours. Again...I ask...explain it in terms of physics. I don't think you can because I think it's a bunch of BS.

Minus, Many people think that it is the owner's perception that breaks in over the first 100 or 500 hours. That's possible in your world, isn't it? You'll only find frustration if you try to apply physics to human perception and behavior.

Thank you again, Jeff. Very helpful.