cable burn-in / system burn-in

Any interconnect or cable will have as a component of it's construction, a dielectric. Cables/wires will also have a measurable capacitance, for a given length(they act, to a degree, as a capacitor). Other than a vacuum(the best dielectric) and air, all dielectrics will store a certain amount of energy and release it at various rates and time constants, that are predictable to a point(http://www.designers-guide.org/Modeling/da.pdf). The better cable designers take this into account, and voice their cables accordingly(the "Q" of a cable can be predicted). Once a cable or capacitor's dielectric has "charged"(so to speak), it stabilizes and reaches the target sound of the designer. That's a big PART of why the better equipment and cable builders inform the customer that their gear will take such and such a length of time to sound their best. The better dielectrics(ie: polypropylene, polystyrene, Teflon) absorb and release less energy, and do it more slowly- thus, they "sound" better when used in caps and as insulators. They also take more time to burn-in. In a highly resolving sound system, anything that's released into the audio signal, outside of the intended musical content, will be noticed as distortion, noise, a frequency or time aberration, by anyone with ears. Then there are those that don't want to, or can't hear...........

Lessloss- You apparently didn't read anything I posted. A dielectric will only charge to a degree, then it stops. That can be predicted, and therefore a cable or capacitor can be "voiced". I also stated that it's only part of the issue of burn in. You're not disagreeing with me, but with science. Perhaps you can grasp this much shorter treatise on the subject: (http://www.empiricalaudio.com/computer-audio/technical-papers/dielectric-absorption-dissipation-factor-and-q)

Obviously, given the dynamics of dielectric absorption; if a cable or capacitor is unused for a length of time, the energy absorbed by the dielectric will fully discharge. When put back into service, the dielectric will have to reach it's target(optimum designed/voiced) level once again. Engage in whatever semantic gymnastics you choose from there. As long as my system's cables or electronics(new or reinserted) sound like music at the end of the 200hrs of continuous signal that I generally feed them; I'm happy as the proverbial bumblebee in a clover patch. Happy listening!!