Oppo 95: Burn-in...and Fan

I know nothing about the physics. I have, however, compared two identical components, the only difference being that one was new and the other had several hundred hours on it. The one with more time sounded better. I have done this with cables as well.

Maybe Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory could help us?

Jdub39 and Jfz - I probably have 100 hours on it now and soundwise it clearly follows the 'break-in' schedule you posted...the sound has opened up considerably and inching a good bit closer to the analog rig (naturally I am using the 'Pure Sound' setting)...I'm really looking forward to continuing running this one in. I have two wonderfully sounding integrateds but none has XLR - Creek Destiny and Marantz PM-KI Pearl - so RCA will have to do. Do you think the XLR sounds much better and what type of pre/amp do you have? Also, I have tried BDR cones and other softer vibration dampers but for me the myrtle blocks does the job.

Guys, sorry, don't mean to come across as disagreeable and I understand everyone's here to exchange ideas and info. This is obviously a pet peeve of mine that occurs often in the audiophile community. If you think your electronics sound better after 500 hours than brand new then more power to you...as someone above said this could very well be caused by your believing it should sound better...the placebo effect. I'm going to stay firmly planted in my universe though. ;-)

I would ask you though to continue to try to explain to yourselves why, if an electronics component "drifts" or settles" physically in some way when new, why it always drifts in the direction of better sound. Even if I thought I heard improvement in sound of a new component, I don't know how I could logically explain it always getting better instead of sometimes getting worse if it was due to random changes in some physical parameters.

Nice gear!, I use the 2 channel balanced and the 5.1 rca ( using the rca stereo outs with the player set with the FL/FR option) outputs to an Anthem avm20v2 in the analog direct mode for both. I still find the rca's seductive until you hear the xlr's you think it gets no better, the overall difference is the xlr offers a more blacker carved out presentation and a longer decay. At times during the comparison of the two, the rca's seemed more together and harmonically richer (tube or analog like) and why I fell in love with it in the first place but that's until the xlr's reach there full potential. Nothing I would worry about now though and look at it as just something to get around to latter. Now running the Oppo 95 direct to my Halo A21 via rca or xlr is high on my to do list, especially since the recent firmware update includes smaller volume steps! I now have no excuse to try what many say is the uncut version of the 95!

Jdub39 - many thanks again for relevant info. Firmware upgrade, huh? I'll do that soonest...sure seems like a good idea to connect balanced to power amp directly and look forward for report on that experience ;-)

I know I'll end up there at some point (it always happens for some reason) so might as well check with OPPO 95 owners now so I have some ideas when I get there - any positive experiences with aftermarket power cords? The one that comes with the player seems relatively good, but...