While I am a firm believer in "breaking in" most new gear, it is hard to quantify. It's hard to know how much of it is the gear itself changing character over time and your own ears becoming accustomed to what it's hearing and also not hearing. That being said, the two cartridges that I have had that used shibata styluses definitely felt thin and less dynamic until I played through them for a while.
Cartridge burn-in
Hi to all analog friends here,
Any time I purchase a new cartridge, when I set it up and sit down to listen to it, I cringe a little. It always sounds stiff, harsh, glassy, shrill. Then, after a few days/weeks of playing, it appears to 'break in' and start sounding relaxed, more musical, sweeter, less straining, presenting the music with better flow and finesse.
Common wisdom teaches that the cartridge, being a mechanical component, needs to loosen up its suspension. So, the only way to really hear what the cartridge is capable of is to play it for at the minimum 20 to 30 hours (some sources even say 50 hours).
OK, makes sense (kinda). But an alternative explanation is also possible: whenever we replace our current cartridge with a new one, the new one will sound different. Maybe it is this different, unfamiliar sonic character of the new cartridge that is causing us to feel that the sound is harsh, metallic, unpleasant, strenuous? Then, after a few days/weeks with the new cartridge, our ears and our listening habits get adjusted to the new type of sound, and we grow to like it.
This gradual conditioning to the new type of sound is then called 'cartridge break-in'. But maybe the cartridge doesn't really break-in; maybe it is our ears and our listening habits that gradually break-in and get accustomed to the new sound?
What do you think?