Are You A Disciplined Audiophile?
The issue of whether break-in is real aside for now, when you make a change in your system, such as a new component or cable, do you have the discipline to wait before making any other changes? I usually mark my calendar for a month and perhaps 2 months and try to change nothing else for that period of time so I can better assess exactly what the new thing is doing. But sometimes it’s difficult to wait. IMO, break in is a real thing, both in the component and the listener, but even if you don’t believe components and cables change after a few days, can you wait at least a month to listen to enough music to adjust your ears to what the new thing brings to the system on its own?
Anything should break in by 100 to 200 hrs, approx a week. The "discipline" should only be there for 7 to 9 days. The 2 month timeframe is the sneaky dealer suggested "discipline" to let the return windows expire. If it continues to sound like sht after 8 days, initiate rma, get your money back and "discipline" the dealer.. |
@mijostyn I know all about that....If you recall on my earlier post, I asked you to measure it yourself. His video is just showing the methodology for the type of guys who’ve probably never done it before...no point in nitpicking what he did to try and come out on top on a forum thread. Get a driver, measure it... break the same driver’s living daylights in for a couple of months... measure it again...prove it to yourself. |
It varies from equipment to equipment, ime. Some DACs, i could never notice a sonic change. The manufacturer could have burnt it in before they shipped some models. Yamaha amps, for example, go through a distinct change in sound after around a 100+ hours of use. It was clearly noticeable on my former A-S2100 (which i didn’t record). I made it a point to record it on future Yamaha amps, i.e., 0hr playback and 100+ hours of playback on my former A-S3000 and current M5000 to prove that i wasn’t losing my mind. Pass amps, the break-in is a bit more subtle, not as blatantly obvious as Yamaha. Speakers can be fairly quick to break-in depending on how you do it... The whole "it takes months and months to burn crap is the dealer pulling a fast one for closing the return window. If he made his 10k+ cut on something, he certainly doesn’t wanna take a return.
On a different note, @mijostyn , Here’s a video on how to measure driver break-in for your viewing pleasure. Try it/experiment with it/measure it yourself at home with a couple of new drivers. |
