Burning in my Sony DVP-S9000ES -- best approach

I just used the old method of playing music and waiting for it to burn in. It's not like you are going to be contaminated or anything. So, you have to wait awhile. Big deal. I just kept track of how many hours of CD I played, and how many hours of SACD. When you do it this way, you actually hear the stages of break-in. And it usually happens in "blocks". You will suddenly notice something different, after awhile. Then it will stay about the same for awhile, and then bang, another difference. At least that is what seems to happen in mine. I think it is a good idea to learn what break-in stages sound like, for your own knowledge. If you always use high-speed break-in methods, or non-listening break-in, you will never know what intermediate stages sound like. This information can be helpful when auditioning equipment.

Thanks much for the good advice, I am very excited to get going with this puppy. I am somewhat torn on whether to listen to the break in (sounds intriguing, but frustrating at first) vs. use the fact that I cannot move in for the time being to get that done so that the music sounds great the first time I have people over. I will go hook it up to the A/V receiver and get it running a bit to get it started and then decide how much of the process I want to listen to later. I will also see if I can find a pair of Soft Shoes -- sounds great!

Thanks for all the ideas.

I haven't tried this method of determining the hours logged on the 9000es - it was passed on to me by a fellow Audiogon member.

1, tv and any digital receiver ON ready to view the 9000es
2. the 9000es is to be OFF via the remote not the front panel ac switch
3. find the 3 keys .. TITLE, CLEAR, POWER .. and press in rapid sequence.

the service screen will appear
select Emergency History -
remote press: 4

emergency history screen will appear.
read -
cd hours
and
dvd + sacd hours

exit emergency history -
remote press: return

exit service mode
remote press: pwr off

Damn,...wish I would have seen this thread earlier. I purchased a 9000 and heard this "stuff" about burn-in..so, I put it in my "S.O.T.A." GE Profile microwave on 2days at about half power... Well, after replacing the magnetron tube on the GE..I got another 9000 and(upon the recommendation of a former friend) tried it in a conventional oven at 375 for about 50 min...well, same results...total meltdown! On my 3rd, and last, 9000..I tried just running it for several hours on DVD/SACD/CD and guess what....after around 300 hours, or so, it was very good.

Dw00, Thanks for passing on that emergency history screen info. I tried it and got exactly what you stated. That was a great thing to know. I wrote it down on the back of my user's manual. Thanks again.