Pbb, while i have watched and measured the differences in electronic circuitry "settling in" using test equipment, i had thought that "wire burn in" was a complete joke. I found out differently and the results were undeniable after some first hand experimentation.
I have also burned cables for multiple others that have had the same thoughts and experiences. Every one of them BECAME a "believer" after hearing the results. One guy was going to throw some cables out they sounded so bad in his system. After burning, they are now residing within the confines of his system and he is quite happy with them. Is he fooling himself ? Given my past experience using the same procedure and getting similar results, i sincerely doubt it.
Others have sent me cables to burn for them and kept identical "unburned" cables at home to compare. The results ? The "burned" cables always sound fuller and smoother with greater transparency.
Bottom line: You really don't know until you try it for yourself
Grandpad: I've never tried "burning" a power cord with any type of "special device". My beliefs are that the only way to burn in a cable is to put it into a situation that is above and beyond what it would normally be used for. To be exact, you would need increased voltage and current draw. Even just increased current draw would help speed things up but i don't know by how much. As such, no "cable burner" is capable of doing what you would need to burn a power cord. As such, it is really just "marketing hype" and a feature that has no real merit in my opinion.
If you wanted to speed up the process, you could try making up an adapter to use on your fridge, etc... This is a high current device that cycles quite frequently. As such, it should offer some benefits in terms of "advanced break in" of PC's. Just a guess though based on my other "burn in" experiences.
I would agree with your observation that cheaper cables seem to really come to life when cooked. This may have to do with the fact that less expensive cables typically use lower grade dielectrics than more expensive cables. It is possible that "burning" is more effective at "curing" ( figuratively and literally ) problems with absorption and "junk" dielectrics. Since Teflon has such a low absorption factor as it is, the benefits may not be as noticeable or drastic on "fancy" cables.
PsychicAnimal felt that devices such as the Mobie were a threat to the Hi-End cable industry. After burning various grades of cables for him, he felt that the differences in performance between cheap cables and expensive cables was drastically reduced. I would tend to agree and i think that your findings support this also. I know that Bob Crump has also had similar findings as he once told me that "a Mobie can make Bat guano sound good after 30 days" : )
Having said that, i still believe that a cable that uses superior materials and superior geometry will always perform better given the same amount of "treatment" that one gives a cable of lesser quality and design integrity. With that in mind, we can't QUITE turn a sow's ear into a silk purse, but it is getting pretty close to that. Sean
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