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?  

chayro

He uses two different drivers (of the same type) manufactured at different times with no way of controlling things like poor tolerances of changes in materials. The proper way to run this experiment is to use the same driver, measuring it new and then serially after periods of time.

@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.

One would need to do repeated measurements with multiple same-model drivers, simultaneously, to control for QC / tolerance. Pretty straightforward.

No such thing as a more or less “disciplined” audiophile in the way OP mentions, that I can think of, since everyone is a sample size of 1 who’s more or less prone to acclimatization.

Amazing what a bit of background knowledge it science and stats can save you from having to just wonder. 😉

In my listening experience, component break-in is a real thing.   I sent my Krell K300i back to the factory for service and upon return it sounded like crap.   Tight, recessed midrange, no bass slam, rolled off/squeeky highs.   Yuk.   I just let it play at low volume for 3 days while we were out.   Came back and my old Krell sound was back.   Beautiful.

 

I had exactly the same experience with my NAD M33, Tubadour IIISE, Innuos Zen Mini Mk3, etc.   all have benefitted significantly from a short break-in. 
 

So, to the OP’s original question….  I try to wait and only change one thing at a time, but sometimes, I’m impatient.   It happens and I’m OK with that.

I feel sorry for that one guy who hates "broken in" gear...he has to replace the whole system every couple of weeks. I use a Dennis Had SEP amp for which I have a pile of tubes to swap in and out whenever I feel like it, which I find entertaining. I alternate that amp with a Pass XA-25 and both amps sound astonishingly good and have really interesting differences so, yeah, I have too much free time.

I built my system. I built my room to the system. Now, I will try some new cables once in a while. Mostly I listen to glorious music as often as possible. Disciplined; I guess.