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 4 responses by nonoise

A raft of sea lions must have made their way here from some melting ice shelf, pursued by orcas. 

Conflating  a power line to a speaker cable is just a red herring with its own distinct odor. Small fluctuations in a small wire can detract from its intended purpose. The scale is, after all, quite small but still victim to undesired effects. The argument of something being too small to be of any concern is specious, at best.

Next thing you know, someone will say if you can't actually see it, it can't be that big a deal.

All the best,
Nonoise

@tonywinga 

Sorry to draw you out so the others can take aim but I appreciate your honesty, experiences and ability to hear. 👍

Now watch this one get deleted. 😄

All the best,
Nonoise

Speakers do break in. Every one I've had, did. You can even speed things up with a CD break in disc that plays brown, pink and white noise in and out of phase along with frequency sweeps. It does the trick. 

I always use a selection of CDs that I'm intimately familiar with and will go back to them over the course of time to ascertain changes for the better, and they do get better.

All the best,
Nonoise