2. analog
  3. 128442-18279

Ahhhh...breaking in a cartridge.

While I'm pretty sure most loudspeakers and components do have some break in period, I KNOW cartridges do break in because I've heard the diminishment of surface noise (and other stuff, which may be more subjective) over time. 

I'm breaking in a new Audio Technica ART9 cartridge.  I'm 5 hours in and my ear is either getting used to it or it's sounding better. :)  This is not much time, I know.  I am trying to listen to the same records (about 5 albums) over and over, of which I'm well familiar to see how things go.  If I had to sum up the break in thusfar in one statement I'd say things don't sound as tight and reserved. 

By the way, this cartridge is going to be killer.  It's tonal balance is superb.  Not one region of the spectrum is emphasized. 
jbhiller

Showing 2 responses by pops

pops
2,278 posts
 
Stringreen said

You should recheck the setup parameters after the cartridge breaks in...the suspension will be in a different place.

Great point and often overlooked.  I checked and adjusted mine at 50 hours and just checked again yesterday at 200 hours.  No changes.

Enjoy the tunes while it breaks in!
pops
2,278 posts
 
alpha_gt I will bet your cartridge does not have near the hours you think it does.  Jperry has a great idea, I do something similar - I just mark down everytime I put an album on and count it as 20 minutes - not scientific but close.  It took me about 2 years to get 200 hours on my current cartridge - basically about 600 album sides.  

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