I believe in break in but up to a point. If I insert a new component into my system and the sound sucks, no amount of break in will magicly make it sound better. I learned that the hard way. The only component that I noticed a big difference in was my Odyssey amps. They sounded great out of the box and sounded even better after a few weeks. Break in would never stop me from getting a new piece of equipment.
break in
Do you ever not purchase something because of the time it takes for it to break in? I personally consider it when I am looking a another component. For instance if the fall season rolls around and I think about spending more time listening to music I do not like to go through 150 or more hours of break in and not enjoy my listening sessions as well. I have had things take much longer than 300 hours to settle to that level I like. And I don't like to leave my stuff running 24/7 just to break in, so that doesn't work for me.
And on a side note can you roughly guess at how many total hours of break in you have had on all your equipment? Things I can think of to avoid some break in is get used items or integrated components like amps and such. I take those things into consideration when I am looking at equipment.
And on a side note can you roughly guess at how many total hours of break in you have had on all your equipment? Things I can think of to avoid some break in is get used items or integrated components like amps and such. I take those things into consideration when I am looking at equipment.