What Exactly Does "Burn In" do for Electronics?

Dragon I completely agree with you. My point is not whether or not the sonic differences are real my point is that we don't know for sure and that there is a possibility that we can be fooled or deceived by our ears. Since this is true, I like to consider more than just "did I hear a difference" when evaluating the worth of a product or concept like burn in. For one thing, I throw common sense into the mix. Certain products and concepts certainly are counter to common sense. For instance, cable risers, expensive feet under components with no moving parts, totem beaks, $1000 / ft cable, etc...

"06-16-14: Jaxwired
Dragon I completely agree with you. My point is not whether or not the sonic differences are real my point is that we don't know for sure and that there is a possibility that we can be fooled or deceived by our ears. Since this is true, I like to consider more than just "did I hear a difference" when evaluating the worth of a product or concept like burn in."

Fine. I agree.

" For one thing, I throw common sense into the mix. Certain products and concepts certainly are counter to common sense. For instance, cable risers, expensive feet under components with no moving parts, totem beaks, $1000 / ft cable, etc..."

Common sense has nothing to do with this. There are plenty of things in science that don't make sense to us, but are still correct. If you want to disagree about what kind of differences you can hear with different cables, fine. But just because something like an expensive cable or tweak doesn't make sense to you, that doesn't mean you are right just because you are basing your answers on common sense. So if you want to get to what the truth really is, I think the only way to get there is with some well conducted listening tests. I've done them before and if carefully planned, I don't see why you can't get accurate results.

The only thing I would add is that you can't just lump everything all together. All cables, all components break in, all tubes, ... that kind of thing. I take everything on a case by case basis. Results vary. Sometimes you can hear a big difference, and some things, small or none.

"My point is not whether or not the sonic differences are real my point is that we don't know for sure and that there is a possibility that we can be fooled or deceived by our ears."

No doubt. Especially when the differences are subtle, as is often the case.

I'd say always trust your own ears above all else, but also realize that nobody is infallible and we all have our limitations. Also that some may use this information for less than altruistic purposes, especially when there is money to be made.

To those who don't believe in, or who haven't heard a difference, with burn in:

- please sell me that brand new bad sounding $2500 phono cartridge with only 10 hours on it for 40% of what you paid for it

I can't even count the number of cables or electronic pieces or capacitors or other parts of all types that have continually changed with "burn in" use over time. The change isn't subtle from start to finish, though it can be subtle in degrees. 20-50 hours isn't usually enough time to get to the end of that change. More like 100-200 hours.

All I can think is ... if you can't hear it then maybe your system isn't as resolving as you think.

"06-16-14: Ptmconsulting
To those who don't believe in, or who haven't heard a difference, with burn in:

- please sell me that brand new bad sounding $2500 phono cartridge with only 10 hours on it for 40% of what you paid for it"

In all fairness to some of the other posters, I believe they were mainly talking about cable break in. Typically, a new phono cart breaks in more than any other component. To me, they sound broken when they are new. Cable break in is usually much more subtle (but it definitely happens). But they're not all the same. For example, I don't notice that much break in with my AQ cables. There is some, but they get to where they should be fairly quickly. I have some Cardas cables that take forever. 100's of hours.