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New turntable break-in?

Everyone talks about the 'burn-in' time required for:-
Cartridges
Cables
Valves
Amps
Speakers

I've never heard anyone talk about the 'burn-in' required for turntables?
Here is a complex electro-mechanical device that spins on a bearing.
If ANY component should have a 'break-in' period, I would have thought the turntable was a sitter?

The reason I'm bringing this up is that I've had my new Raven AC for a month now, and every day the sound changes.....it gets BETTER.
When I first set it up, it sounded positively awful....no bass, no transparency, no soundstage.....in fact it sounded like the speakers were wired out-of-phase.

Every day that passes, it responds to more tweaking of the arm/cartridge combination (alignment, VTA, VTF etc) and the bass, depth and soundstage become more and ever more satisfying.
In fact, I don't yet know when it will stop?

Has anyone else experienced this phenomenon?...and if so, why is it not mentioned in the audio reviews?
128x128halcro
stevecham
3,340 posts
 
Yes I have experienced it and believe it to be a combination of table, arm, cartridge, interconnect and input into the phono preamp and hence to the preamp itself.

All breaking in at different rates to different degrees, depending on the complement of components.

And no two set ups will be alike in the rate and quality of break in, even if they share "identical" manufacturers and models.

Fascinating, fun and enjoyable.
jfrech's avatar
jfrech
1,816 posts
 
I believe you. SME tables have this in manual. Bearing's need time to run in. And we're not even talking the electrical stuff with the internal tonearm wires that we all know help...
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,472 posts
 
VPI says 20 hours of breakin for their Superscoutmaster
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