2. misc-audio
  3. 1147478988

breaking in audio components

sometimes you get lucky, and a dealer or direct manufacturer enable you to audition a component for a trial period, after which you may return it, or get a refund if you paid for it initially.

sometimes the trial period is 10 days, usually no more than a month.

you place the component in your stereo systems, listen to "test" recordings and try to evaluate its contribution to the sound of your stereo system.

there is the issue of break-in. a component may or not break-in during your trial period.

what criteria do you use to determine that a component has broken in ?

you might ask the dealer or manufacturer how long it takes to break in the component, or how many hours of signal transmission is necessary in order to fairly evaluate the component.

there is always the possibility that the component has not completely "settled" sonically, while in your possession.

there is the chance that if you buy the component, its sound may change after the trial period ends.

is it always a crap shoot when buying components, or has your experience taught you when to tell that any further changes in sound will be minor and not affect your overall sentiment toward the component ?
mrtennis
mrtennis OP
3,295 posts
 
gentlemen, the point of this thread is to determine audibly if possible, what are the signs that a component has "broken in" sufficiently, so as to make a judgment as to whether you like it or not and/or wish to purchase it or not ?

are there any aspects of frequency response or soundstaging that one might listen for to be confident that much or most of the break in has already occurred ?
musicslug
430 posts
 
if your dealer doesn't know what the break-in time is, he's not a very good dealer!
p.s. count me in the "believes break-in is real" group
phd
1,324 posts
 
Sometimes a dealership will loan out a demo which is probably the same one loaned for other customers & no doubt already broken in. I would then have to agree with Musicslug, that an informed dealership should know his products and the required break-in period. Aside from new component break in I know that my system always improves after an hour warmup.
rushracer
7 posts
 
I'd have to side with people saying they DO notice differences after break in. And with components, speakers, and cables (IC's, speaker, and PC's). Granted, some are more subtle changes, but some are more noticeable (in this hobby of "splitting hairs"). Probably the only things in my system I don't notice "breaking in", are the isolation tweaks I've used.
fatparrot
1,314 posts
 
Gunbei, LOL! Horseface, thanks for the info. Nice to learn a new fact that can explain burn-in from a scientific point of view.

Mrtennis , my rule of thumb is that by 72 hours, you will be able to tell the sonic signature of the gear; improvements will continue, but the essence of the sonics will be known. See Horseface's post.

The most obvious improvements that I have heard are a removal of "grain" or edginess of the highs, a tightening of the bass, and an improvement dynamic "punch", and more detail in the micro-dynamics [resolution and separation of very soft passages from the louder passages]. The treble is the easiest improvement to hear, and the bass improvement the next so.
More to discover