cable break in

If you have a high-resolution system, you can definitely hear a difference in brand new, unbroken-in cables and cables that have been properly broken in. I don't presume to be able to explain the physics of exactly what's going on here, and it may vary considerably from cable to cable, given the great diversity of designs, but anyone who has had much experience in this realm can confirm this; it's definitely not audiophile neurosis or hocus-pocus.

Within the past year I had the experience of ordering a complete new set of Purist Musaeus cables (two sets of interconnects and one set of speaker cables). When I initially hooked them up, I was somewhat disappointed. The manufacturer stated that the cables required a minimum of 100 hours of burn-in. Well, I might once have been skeptical of such a statement, but I can confirm from personal experience that after 100 hours, this set of cables sounded quite audibly better--smoother, better balanced, with better resolution of detail--than it did when brand new. Later I ordered an additional pair of new Purist Audio Musaeus interconnects, and the same experience was repeated: they sounded quite audibly better when they had completed break-in. This experience has been repeated by so many audiophiles that it is commonplace and well accepted by those who aren't so blinded by theory or what some textbook told them that they won't believe what their ears tell them.

cable manufacturers as well as dealers interested to pitch their product. thus to explain rediculousely high prices, sound becomes better after a few hundreds of hours of using just exactly what you need to psychologycally train yourself for that.

i may recommend non-introductory books as well but they require a prior basic knowlege to understand all differences between conductor, dielectric and semiconductor.

No doubt about it Texasdave. Way too many people have shared your experience. My Stealth Indra took over 200 hours to really hit their stride. Could be Marakanetz just doesn't have the gear or ear to hear the difference. Nice rhyme huh?
:-)

I also think that break-in time is inversely proportional to the current through the cable. Which is why PC's break in faster than speaker cables which are faster than IC's. Tonearm IC's are the slowest, and in fact I'm thinking of making an RCA to DIN adapter so I can use my tonearm IC somewhere else in the system for awhile.

Marakanetz, I'm sure you're right re: the physical properties of the materials, however then you should look for another reason for the phenomena we hear. It can't all be marketing hype or auto-conditioning. After all, ten thousand pairs of ears can't be wrong.

Stan, I'm sure you're really a sweet guy in person, oh and you should add Siltech and Magnan to your list of great cables :~))

Texasdave and Stanhifi,
I'm with you guys on this one and I think most with high end systems would agree. Burn-in time varies with different cables. Also, some cables get cooked some by the manufacturer. This holds true for componants as well. I don't know where Marakanetz is coming from. He's entitled to his opinion of course but it dosn't conform to my experience.