cable break in


had a friend ask me if after you break in/burn in your cables are they more or less conductive? i would have to say less conductive, but not sure why? does anyone have a good answer?
hemidakota
Stan,
Why is it that you cannot have a civil conversation with anyone? In every thread, you seem to want to forgo the discussion, and head straight for the insults.
Obviously, you have a lot of experience in this hobby. You could certainly opt to share it with this community in a respectful manner. Please consider adopting such a tone. Thank you.
Bob, let's say you've got a SS amp which draws 225W at idle but draws 1200W at rated output (200W/400W into 8/4 ohms). So at let's say a nominal (audio) output of 100W/200W into 8/4 ohms, it's drawing around 600W from the wall. W/V=A, or 600/120=5amps.

Typical amplifier nominal output voltage is around 50V for a 20dB voltage gain (over the preamplifier output) and which is a pretty loud listening level if the speakers are reasonably efficient. Again using W/V=A, you get 2A (@100W) for an 8ohm speaker and 4A (@200W) for a 4 ohm speaker, unless I'm way off somewhere.

An example would be my Levinson amp which will provide 400W/ch into my 4 ohm (nominal) electrostats, but at the loudest listening levels I can stand, it's only drawing 400W from the wall (or 3.3A) and it's only putting out around 150W rms of audio power, which at its 67V (26dB) gain, is only around 2.2A to the speakers (vs. 3.3A from the wall.)

The example you gave assumes an 8V output voltage which would be only about a 3dB voltage gain for the amp. Not very loud, even with a super-efficient speaker.
so you guys agree there is no change in conductivity? only a change in the insulation?
Hemi: There are three things I'm aware of that affect or improve the conductivity of a given piece of wire. Two have to do with the crystalline structure of the metal:

1.) Working with the direction of the "wire draw", and honestly I don't know which direction has the better conductivity -- in the direction of the draw or against it.

2.) Cryo treatment, resulting in a more compact crystalline structure which improves electron flow through the metal.

3.) The third has to do with the cross-sectional geometry of the conductor -- ribbon vs. square vs. round, etc. and I don't think there is conclusive evidence regarding this issue.