2. cables
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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
rodman99999
6,130 posts
 

@kennyc -

 Good to know to stop researching.  

        As long as you never stop CRITICALLY THINKING, EXPERIMENTING and LISTENING.

 

bolong
602 posts
 

Dielectrics and Break-In

This is not exotic physics here.

flemke
596 posts
 

Speaker cables will breakin using a high current amp. I/C  will never breakin with the amount of current produced from a CD player or preamp. I use a old pioneer receiver and connect RCA or XLR to the speaker terminals. I then use a 20 watt sandbar resistor to terminate. After turning the receiver volume up to about 1/2 way I let it sit for 4 days. I just did this burn in process with a brand new pair of Shunyata Sigma 4 meter long XLR cables. I have also done this with 4 pairs of Shunyata Anaconda XLR cables. The difference is very noticeable. 

ozzy's avatar
ozzy OP
7,461 posts
 

kennyc, rodman99999, bolong, and flemke,

Thank you for the posts, very interesting.

ozzy

mitch2
3,968 posts
 

About 20 years ago, I decided if I was going to compare expensive cables and make purchase decisions, that I at least needed to make sure I was hearing them at their best.  Therefore, I purchased an Audiodharma Cable Cooker that I used to “cook” every cable I tried in my system and later all of the cables I constructed myself.  During that time, I tried multiple cables (both manufactured and DIY) before/after “cooking” and I honestly cannot say I ever heard what I would call a meaningful difference between the uncooked and cooked versions.  I have heard significant differences between electronics, speakers, individual analog cables, rooms, and software for digital playback, but nada related to cable break-in (or fuses).

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