Burn-in time Vs. Getting used to a sound

Every time I have bought a new component there have been significant changes in the sound over a period of weeks, and the sequence of how the sound changes is usually the same. I find this to be completely unexplained by Brutus' view that there is some psychological thing going on. Of course it is possible that my ears are being burned in to the sound of the component - but this would not explain why, when I bought a second Theta Data III it did not sound like my old one for some weeks and then after a few weeks it sounded the same. For Brutus to be right I would have had to subliminally told myself the new (identical looking and identically spec'd) machine must sound different, and then changed my subliminal mind three weeks later. But Brutus - do any of these "nay-saying" opinions of yours have any basis in your actual experience, as opposed to what your understanding of electrical engineering theory tells you. I have yet to see a post from you that refers to actual experience. If your opinions are in fact based on experience, then perhaps you could outline your system and setup so that we may surmise why you do not hear what so many others with highly resolving systems hear.

Brutus, I just saw your post saying you tried a few specialist power cords and heard no difference - so I take back my earlier statement. I am still interested in your system contect, however.

redkiwi:I currently have an atmosphere novacron amp, audible illusions 3a pre,micromega cd,maggie 3.2 speaks. I have had many other systems and other than tubes and speaks they ALL sounded exactly the same when I sold them as when I bought 'em.sorry

Yep I've heard it all (used to foolishly believe it myself too, and I'm an E.E.). All cables sound the same...all amps sound the same... Finally I learned to LISTEN! Now, NOTHING sounds the same. However there is a difference between cold equipment vs. new equipment. Even broken-in solid state gear, or tube gear w/ S.S. regulators, doesn't sound so good when it's cold. Over the first 2 or 3 hours warmup time things improve most noticably. It takes about 30 hours for the power supply regulators to attain thermal stabilization. (Yes the power supplies & even AC cords are in the signal's path. That's why David Belles *tunes* his power supplies). Plenty of other threads on this...

I can attest that burn-in is a big factor in audio and video. I've burned in lots of eq. and some improves more than others. MIT cables have taken the longest for me, I know I could never get used to the sound of new shotgun IC's - they changed more than any cable or component I've had in my system. My Pioneer elite TV changed also over a couple hundred hours of use in picture colors and quality and sound. I finally convinced my wife who has much better hearing than me when she witnessed the TV change. Now, with that in mind does your crappy car system or clock radio improve. My wife calls me a noise snob and she's right. When I get in my son's car and he pops in a CD and cranks it you might as well have a leaf blower or jack hammer going!