Burn-in time Vs. Getting used to a sound

Sorry Jostler, What you describe has of course happened on occasion, but I assure you that burn in is not a myth. Some cables require more time than others, and that leads to many chances for dissatisfaction until things are really settled. My Harmonic Technology cables took a long time to break in, and had me worried for a while, but the change was so drastic that it could not possibly be "getting used to it". Many of the members at Audiogon are very experienced listeners and can give you the science behind both opinions, but I believe 99% will confirm burn in as a fact. Scepticism can be good, but cynicism doesn't get you very far.

Burn-in is no myth.

I would say that of the two, burn-in would have the least impact....the character of any component/device will not change "night and day" over time, although with your "golden ears" you may claim it so. To make a point, what if you were to exchange a pair of Martin Logans that you have lived with for some time for some Vandersteens....break-in would be IRRELEVANT!!!!! You would solely be getting "used to the sound" of a totally different speaker. Break-in is the cop-out often used as a way of justifying one's opinions on the sound/quality of a component/device when someone else disagrees with that opinion.....well Jagoff didn't allow proper break-in so obviously that's why Jagoff didn't like my brand of speaker cable!

IMO G13 is right and both occur simultaneously. Cheers. Craig.

I recently bought a Krell KPS-25sc to replace my 8 year old Theta equipment which served me well and I still highly respect. My point is the first 3 hours with the Krell unit were a nightmare. I had buyers remorse. No sound stage, brittle, compressed sounding. I called a neighbor who does some reviewing for Absolute Sound for help and he assured me that digital circuits need a very long warm up and break-in. I am happy to report that after about 4 hours the sound clicked and has gotton consistently better as I have left the power on. Now my nightmare has turned into the best digital I have ever heard..period. Break-in, burn-in, whatever you want to call it is for real.