Why do new cables needs to be "broken" ???

It's a proven fact that cables kept in captivity, even mistreated ones, eventually come to view their owners as parental figures. Once aware of their complete dependence on you for their very existence, the expensive ones especially so, they forego all natural principle and do whatever the system demands.

On top of that, those cables cased in little wooden boxes only awaken to their intended task during moments of total darkness upon hearing the ca-ching of their dealer's cash register.

>>I know. I'm a real smartass<<

That's only partially true.

Ridge: Go back to explaining burn-in. Now, that was funny!

if the cables cannot be broken, i would return them to their natural habitat....a dusty, carpeted floor at a stereo shop, where they will live out their days with dozens of others. there may be an occasional fight for superiority between the silver and copper ones. but the fights generally end quickly with no real winner.

This topic reminds me about the story they told us in college pyschology 101 about how they put prism glasses on some test subjects that turned everything upside down. After some time, these people's brains flipped the image back again so they could see thing normally through these glasses (or so the story went). Their point was that what people see is what the brain does with the raw data it gets; all the sensory input is interpreted or mediated. Through an act of pure will, we can train ourselves to use the raw data differently.

30 years later, I'm not sure I buy this 100%, or even 50%. I think there are plenty of hardwired responses that you can't override easily. I think the answer lies somewhere in between. It would be really easy to dismiss break-in as just a way the salespeople use to make you keep something so long it's too late to return it. But dang if I haven't heard it myself.