2. cables
  3. 188381-41

Cable Break In for the Naysayers

I still cannot believe that in this stage of Audio history there are still many who claim cable break in is imagined. They even go so far as claim it is our ears that break in to the new sound. Providing many studies in the way of scientific testing. Sigh...

I noticed such a recent discussion on the What’s Best Forum. So here is my response.

______________________________________________________________________________________________ I just experienced cable break in again firsthand. 10 Days ago, I bought a new set of the AudioQuest Thunderbird XLR 2M interconnects.

First impression, they sounded good, but then after about 30 hours of usage the music started sounding very closed in and with limited high frequencies. This continued until about 130 hours of music play time.

Then at this time, the cables started to open up and began to sound better and better each passing hour. I knew at the beginning they would come around because they sounded ok at first until the break in process started. But now they have way surpassed that original sound.

Now the soundstage has become huge with fantastic frequency extensions. Very pleased with the results. Scientifically I guess we can’t prove cable break in is real, but with good equipment, good ears, it is clearly a real event.

ozzy

128x128ozzy

Showing 1 response by asctim

asctim
438 posts
 

I can partially agree with the people who aren’t into measurements. My agreement is that we don’t always know what a good measurement should look like. But here’s what I firmly believe. If an audible change has happened, that change will be measurable. All it takes is some effort. We don’t have god-like hearing. Test equipment is orders of magnitude more sensitive to subtle changes in the signal. No change that we can hear is going to get past the equipment. If an audible change has occurred because of cable burn-in, that will be easily measurable by a competent person with decent equipment. 

I recently tested a group of integrated amplifiers and thought I was hearing differences. I took out the calibrated mic. and compared the speaker measurements with the different amps hooked up. The frequency response showed very clear and repeatable differences depending on which amp was hooked up. I'm not all that competent, nor is my measuring equipment anything special, and yet even I could demonstrate measurable differences in the response of my speakers with different integrated amps installed. If I heard differences between cables, I'm sure I could measure that too.

 

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