A question about cable break-in

attach dummy load resistors, 4 to 8 ohms, in place of your speakers & turn up the output level until the resistors get warm but not extremely hot. You can easily fabricate your own dummy loads if you can solder, but even clip-leads will work OK for 10 to 20 watts of power. Email me if you need technical details Matt.

Why not break in just one channel so that you can really appreciate the difference between raw and nicely done cables. You know that the cables will continue breaking in without remission and that after twenty-three months you will have to get new ones. I also recommend different cables for winter and summer use if you live in that part of North America where snow tires are used. Change the cables about the same time as the tires and you will be able to stretch out the cables up to forty-six months, depending on how severe the intervening winters are. Oh, and by the way, once you put your summer cables to sleep for the winter, make sure you wake them up very slowly come spring time and do not startle them: the long crystals will surely seize-up (a well known phenomena that can't be measured, but that can be heard clearly, with the right system). Once gently awoken, the cables will need some further breaking-in, rest assured though that since the cable remembers its first lessons, it will take much less time to break-in again. I hope that this will be of some use to you and the other audiophiles on 'Agon. I like to share my knowledge with the community. From the frozen North, I remain frozen in time. Good evening.

I would just listen to them while they break in as Twl says, maybe you will hear the change and learn something you can pass on.

I'm no expert, engineer or rocket scientist, but I just don't get the whole wire/cable break in theory. Tubes yes, SS amps and Pre's OK, even speakers need to loosen up a bit, but a piece of wire??? I just bought a new pair of Cardas Golden Reference BiWire for my speakers, will they really sound better in two weeks? If so when do they run out of gas and stop sounding good? Do they have a life span? I am trying not to sound sarcastic but can someone give me some techie info to back up these claims. And at the cost of these wires perhaps I should only listen sparingly so I don't wear them out...

Dave, the answer to that question is in the archives. Just do a search on "break" in the Cable section. Read everything that comes up and you will know almost as much as anyone else.