Yping - I'm certainly a believer in (what I call) a "settling in" process for cables and electronic audio components in general. For cables, I do think this can be accelerated by various burn-in or cooking treatments. I'm not convinced, however, that such treatments provide a permanent benefit that cannot be matched by simple time in use (albeit, over much longer times). This latter statement is my O-pinion. Complicating evaluation of "time in use" as an alternative to cable burn-in or cooking treatments is the contribution our ear's acclimation makes to the perceived benefit.
Cable Cooking/Burnin
I read this on KLE Innovations, http://kleinnovations.com/kle-innovations-klei-products/essence-gzero-ic/, and wondered what your thoughts on Cable Cooking/Burnin might be ...
Burnin/Cooking Time
We believe that the Burnin/Cooking process can be thought of as an extension/finishing of the Annealing process.
This is a practice that can dramatically/drastically improve performance and has been gaining acceptance from HiFi enthusiasts :) Usually, any listener will be able to identify a marked change/improvement in audio component performance within the first 100 or more hours of use, whether it be a cable, connector, component or loudspeaker.
Burnin/Cooking time is the process whereby electrical signal/charge gradually settles/corrects/aligns dielectric, electromagnetic, and material (metal and non-metal) issues that occur/result during the construction process. These aspects are often and usually found in Cables/Connectors and usually results in a brittle, bright, muddy, non-cohesive sound that lacks the Detail, Resolution, Timbre, PRaT, Harmonic Texture, Organicness, Naturalness, and Staging which is desired for music reproduction. Burnin/Cooking Time improves the way that signal passes through the conductors and dielectrics and it is the resulting changes in signal transmission that refines and defines the performance of the audio cables.
While it is most important to implement Burnin/Cooking Time, upon purchase, routine maintenance is always important, also. Cables/Connectors that have not been played, or left unused, for long/prolonged periods of time, may become stagnant and again require Burnin/Cooking Time.