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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 mijostyn

mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,223 posts
 

@w123ale 

I would say, in the case of your speakers you are absolutely right. You have accommodated to their sound. 

In other cases electromechanical “ break in” does occur. I actually measured it with a set of tubes. I think this is true of cartridges and ESLs for sure. However there are many items that do not break in including cables and most solid state electronics. Any suggestion that they do is psychological. People will swear they hear a difference and they do but that difference is at the other end of the chain. The sound of my system changes with my mood. I’ve learned not to make changes when I’m in a bad mood. Another issue is that more accurate sound can initially sound worse until you have a chance to listen to a multitude of program sources. I’m  comparing two different step up transformers now. After initial measurements I installed the most efficient pair. I’ll listen to them for a month or so before switching over to the other pair.

 

 

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