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Burn in vs perception

Posting here in speakers, but could probably go in any of the forums. Question of the night: how much of burn in of components is actually burn in of our perception? That is, is burn in partly us becoming accustomed to a change in sound.
 

I’m listening to my SF Amati Traditions that at first I found a bit strident, but I now find lush, dynamic, and generally brilliant. I bought them as 1-year old demos so theoretically they should have been played enough to be broken in. I haven’t changed anything in my system—I have been working on my room with more stuff, but that’s it.

Sometimes reviewers or arm chair audiophiles (me) will state that said component needs to be plugged in and left alone for weeks until it gels with the system. Could this simply be our own perception burn in OR is something real happening here?

For speakers I can buy it (woofers need to loosen up and all), but I almost always buy used, and I almost alway a) find a difference of a new component (good or bad), and b) in time, I couldn’t tell you what the change was. Maybe just me, but our brains are pretty good level setters.

I willing to bet this can be a large part of “burn in”.

 

 

w123ale

Showing 1 response by knotscott

knotscott
814 posts
 

Drivers with a physical suspension benefit from movement and time played when they’re new. After several hours of flexing, they tend to achieve something closer to their rated specs, and therefore the intended response.  Similarly, stylus suspensions benefit from some early flexing as well.

Crossovers can also benefit from burn in...specifically caps, but that aspect tends to be more subtle, and there's less provable physics theory involved. Because it’s subtle, what can be heard will vary, but most of the highend speaker designers I’ve been around definitely prefer to give a new pair some burn in time.

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