2. cables
  3. 1085669734

How long for IC cables and Power Cords to break in

I recently replaced all my interconnects, power cord for my power amp, and a Monster power center. The first pass in listening did not produce any real improvement. I shut the system down for about a week to let the wife watch her "Swan" and "American Idol". Then I turned on the system last night. Suddenly everything sounded different. Brighter, more detailed, wider sound stage, bass powerful.

Do wires break in themsleves as long as current goes through them or is there a rule of thumb as to how many hours before one reaps the benefit?

System- B&K reference 4420 power amp
B&K PT3MK2 preamp
Adcom 600 CD
Vandersteen 2CE sigs
XR interconnects
Siganl cable power cord for the power amp.
Thorens 160 c with Linn basik arm and linn K5 cartridge. (Goldring 1012 on the way to replace the Linn K5...
eagleman6722
darrylhifi
498 posts
 
To the above aliens yes indeed their is another dimension.
To the original poster, turn on the stereo and let it play.
Be sure your electrical hookups are secure and let it play when your not home. Let it play overnight at the lowest possible volume. Just , whatever you do , let it play.
When you hit 100 hours, contact the speed of light department and let them know youve reached the inital plateau of cable brek in. Good Luck and be brave.
We will see you on the other side !
mt10425
1,138 posts
 
Idid just what Darrylhifi suggested. I was breaking in two P/C's and long speaker cable runs. I think when I finally turned everything off, it was 114 hours later.
subaruguru
1,376 posts
 
Guys, it's more about the changing dielectric distortions with "exercising" the insulation, either by running lots of signal through the adjacent conductors, or "curing" it otherwise. I've developed such a "curing" process for Teflon insulations that results in no burn in curve. Some insulations can actually take months...even years to finally cure otherwise. That's why AIR is the best dielectric, next to a vacuum. Teflons (and other fluorocarbons) are third.... Ern
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
So what?
How much dB of dielectric distortions are present?
rsbeck
887 posts
 
"Dielectric distortions?" Has anyone ever been able to measure this "distortion?" Why not? "Curing" the dielectric? Any evidence that either the wire or the dielectric go through any changes whatsoever?
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