Cable Cooking/Burnin

Yes, I have found/noticed serious benefits from cooking/burnin and I found this part very interesting and it sort of makes sense to me...

We believe that the Burnin/Cooking process can be thought of as an extension/finishing of the Annealing process.

That link clearly shows that Cable Cooking/Burnin is beneficial :)

Shirley you jest :)

The following has been suggested, what do you think...

Break in for cables makes a difference. Are we really burning in the cable or settling the dielectric ? Both actually. The conductor takes minimal time of constant play to burn in a path of least resistance. It is the dielectric that needs to form. Constant play for many hours of break in does not allow the dielectric to cool down to form.

A method of 24 hours on (continuous playing) then 6 hours off then 6 hours on then 6hrs off and so on until cooking/burnin is complete...

Here's a purpose built DIY unit... http://desirableaudio.blogspot.ca/2009/01/diy-kable-kooker.html

Williewonka, is this your cable cooker?

Morrow Cables espouse this approach...

24 hours on (continuous playing) then 6 hours off then 6 hours on then 6hrs off then 6 hours on and so on until cooking/burnin is complete...

I wonder how Morrow Cables decided that 6 hours on then 6hrs off is a good approach!

I've found that Cooking gets you to "end-state" much quicker, but actual usage still refines the SQ of cooked cables even further.

- E.g. even a well cooked cable sounded much better after 100 hours of playing - but it would have taken in excess of 500 hours to attain the same SQ without cooking
:-(

Most cookers do a very good job, so rather than trying to figure out which cooking method is better, may I suggest you just pick one.
The simple "plug-and-cook" solution sounds the easiest process to me - much less fussing. The time you will save allows you more time to enjoy the music :-)

Interesting Williewonka :)

I have an AudioDHarma Cable Cooker and would not be without it. I recondition all my cables and interconnects every 4 to 6 months. It is easy to hear the improvement even after multiple conditionings. In addition the AudioDharma manufacturer now has an add on that runs the signal thru the ground wire of your power cords. This gives a further benefit to the sound.

What are the sound benefits with the signal running thru the ground wire of the power cord?

What do you think of a 10hrs on/2hrs off approach, where the 2hrs off simply allows the magnetic effects that build up in the cooking/burnin components to subside/drain away, before the cooking/burnin is continued?

Do you find that the XLO burnin CD track9 repeat works for you?

What are your thoughts of the following...

To mention again, I read on KLE Innovations website that they "believe that the cable Burnin/Cooking process can be thought of as an extension/finishing of the Annealing process" which I thought was quite interesting. Perhaps yes but perhaps no because it does not seem to be permanent, or is it permanent, that is the question?

It make sense that this would apply to the signal and ground conductors but it appears that nobody knows why, that is the question? Conditioning the ground conductor makes even more sense when you consider that the "Outgoing circuit is only as good as the Incoming circuit", especially when you consider that response and proximity necessary factor/variables in the equation :)

Perhaps it is to do with feedback just like Back EMF feedback from speaker driver voice coils effects reproduction of the signal, the signal itself, and the amplifier or just like feedback in an amplifier can effect the amplifiers output signal quality even though its intended use is to keep the amplifier from oscillating :)

All quite interesting and perhaps we may know one day, perhaps, just not today :)

That is interesting Nonoise

Yep, burnin/cooking would require a signal to go through it but leaving a component turned on for 6 days or more would allow for magnetic effects within the component to grow to the point of saturation, at which point you would need to turn the component off for the magnetic effects to dissipate through the ground... IMO.

Other than AudioDharma what other brands of Cable Cookers/Burners are recommended...

Other than AudioDharma what other brands of Cable Cookers/Burners are recommended...

Have you tried any others?

Sorry I have to disagree with you but then I cook my cables using an old CDP and an old 25watt integrated amp, where I can set the volume, into a 10watt 5.5R resistor using a couple of music CD's that I like for this process :)

I will have a search for the different cable cookers that are out there and post them :)

I use cables per se that is why I am asking :)

By what you have written, cooking/burning/cryoing/settling, it could be interrupted as a further form of the annealing process, right :)

By what you have written, cooking/burning/cryoing/settling, it could be interpreted (not interrupted) as a further form of the annealing process, right :)

Yes, info for thought :)

Yes, Good or Bad ... that is a question :)

That's good because so far, I cook my cables using an old CDP and an old 25watt integrated amp, where I can set the volume, into a 10watt 5.5R resistor using a couple of music CD's that I like for this process :)

I will have a search for the different cable cookers that are out there, such as Audiodharma, and post them as I find them :)

So, you would say Cookin/Burnin Time and Settling Time are definitely real (Real Time) events :)

Air might be the best but it appears that cooking/burnin is still required! So as indicated, there is much more to cooking/burnin than just dielectric cooking/burnin. It would appear that Morrow method is flawed if it directed at just dielectric cooking/burnin... right :)

It would appear that the cooking/burnin process is definitely an extension/continuance of the annealing process which to me makes alot of sense :)

... heat tempering to the metal conductor manufacturing process in addition to cold tempering (cryo)

Geoffkait, would you call cold tempering (cryo) an annealing process? If yes, then I guess Cooking/Burnin could be called an electrical annealing process or simply, an extension/continuance of the annealing process :)

Perhaps the annealing process could be called a mechanical stress relief process, also, just a different way from Cryo and Cooking/Burnin. There are probably other ways, also :)

The directional alignment of the the material can be seen in the photo. My senses tell me that even further material alignment benefits direction and focus of energy. Material modulation is also enhanced with a much more uniform and reactive response.

Perhaps the electrical cooking/burnin (treatment/annealing) process is doing something quite similar... just takes a little longer :)

Why do you think that electrical burn-in is as simple as that?

Do you think that Cryo is as simple as sticking some material (steel, aluminum, plastic, whatever) in liquid nitrogen then pulling it out again and it is all done!

Heating and cooling annealing is an exact process and in fact there are many standards...

There are probably many methods/processes of electrical annealing! ... isn't metallurgy/alchemy an amazing :)

From what has been written it would appear that a change to the physical state of metal could be loosely referred to as annealing!

So, heat annealing (heating and cooling), cryo annealing (freezing and warming), and electrical annealing, all change the physical state of metal (and other materials) and even the temper of the metal. It would appear that they could all be loosely grouped under the heading of annealing :)

I have tried Home freezing but it seems to be a temporary annealing or have you found a way that it is permanent? :)

Ahh, did you meant liquid nitrogen home freezing?

No! Although I have done the CD in the freezer and found that the effect/change was temporary and maybe lasted about 1 play of the CD!

You have found putting wire in the Freezer has a permanent effect/change. Interesting, do you do this in a particular way and did you find it beneficial?

definition of annealing...

1. Annealing is a process used to bring a metal closer to its equilibrium state. In this soft state, the uniform microstructure will allow for excellent ductility and workability.

2. To Soften... a process of softening a material (such as glass), metal (such as cast iron), or an alloy (such as steel) to make it less brittle by (1) heating it to a particular temperature, (2) maintaining it at that temperature for a particular duration, and (3) cooling it slowly to normal temperature at a particular rate. Opposite of tempering.

3. To Strengthen/Harden... a process of heating and slow cooling in order to toughen and reduce brittleness.

4. Biochemistry: recombine (DNA) in the double-stranded form.

I haven't mentioned anything about cryoing CDs, other than the freezer thing! Perhaps it improves material transparency through assisting with creating a more uniform microstructure!

What are your thoughts? although I would prefer not to know them if you are going to be rude (unfortunately, it would appear that you cannot help yourself)?

Annealing, it would appear can be used to make a soft or hard structure/state with a uniform microstructure! The main thing that was mentioned is that it is used to create a "uniform microstructure" in metal or other materials and the word is even used in Biochemistry with a similar meaning (recombine) :)

{Signal charge/energy} energy is always in a search for a better pathway to ground

Signal charge/energy ... sounds reasonable :)

cryoing or freezing ANYTHING produces better sound. Even things completely unrelated to the audio system

Maybe :)

I cook my cables using an old CDP and an old 25watt integrated amp, where I can set the volume, into a 10watt 5.5R resistor using a couple of music CD's that I like for this process :)

This is how I burnin my cables, ie ensure my cables have uniform microstructure, which works for me :)

geoffkait, perhaps you can tell us how you do your home freezer method.   Especially as it is a permanent method :)