What are we listening for during break in?

Gregadd, no it's not the listener. We are talking about objective not subjective changes that are easily heard. A/B two wires - one new and your current IC that you are familiar with. At first the new wire is not as deep in the bass as your current wire. The new wire is a little bright and the stage is small. Your thinking, hey I wasted my money. Over time the new cable breaks in and you decide to throw the old one back in to do another A/B. It is obvious the new wire has deeper bass and a larger stage etc.... This is not listener break-in.

This was my most current experience as an FYI. If you submit it is my mind playing tricks again, then we should all buy an old JC Penny MCS series stereo and settle into it as it will soon sound like a CJ set-up in my mind. Fact is why waste anytime with any gear as our minds call the shots and we are to fickled to make accurate determinations.

I think most people can detect differences and trust they are not fooling themselves with their own gear, in their own room over a long period of time. This is the way to know.

Over time your mind is not tricked as all of your mood swings, attitudes, stress levels, neighborhood power demands etc have been accounted for and you know the truth.

At least I do :-)

Grannyring, you are passionate in your belief. As I've never experienced it, I have a hard time understanding and therefore believing a wire changes its sonic characteristics with a hundred hours or so of use. If it does change after break in, does it always change for the better or have you ever heard one get worse? If they always improve there must be some reason, why would that be?
As stated in original post, I have experienced sonic changes in new speakers after break in. It wasn't subtle. I also believe not all components sound alike and I have heard a difference between speaker cables. Maybe I don't listen close enough to new cables to notice a change. In fact I know I don't listen close enough as I'm not sure what I'm listening for.

Point one- I have long since abandoned A/B testing thanks to the late great Harvey Rosenberg. I tend to know what I want when I hear it. I keep it till I tire of it,it wears out or becomes obsolete.

I assume everyone has a reference that is the sound of thier own system. Some claim thier reference is live music but they are usually deluding themselves. When you install a new component you have to form a new standard.

I have yet to hear any credible explanation of what part of the cable is being burned in. This differs from moving parts, tube or caps,etc. Maybe a power cord generates enough power to burn in. Not interconnects or phono cables. Monster amps get hot but that heat never seems to make it to the speaker cable.

I have no way of disputing what you heard. It certainly differs from my experience. No harm comes from burning in a wire unless you purchase a burn in cd. In case you will be out whatever you paid. Everyone should have some type of frequency spectrum cd or lp to assist you in spea ker placement. That will do just fine.

You may have deduced I am a cable skeptic. I'm definitely fro

I'm a "no cable break in" kind of guy too.

I understand speakers (there are physical changes in the cones & surrounds).

Perhaps, I can understand electronics (manufacturing aids flashing off, cap's fully charging, operating temperature changes...).

Don't understand cable break-in...

although a cable's sonic character may change a little over time, the basic 'sound' or 'signature' remains.