CD Player Break-In


Hi all,

Just purchased a Cary Audio 306 cd player. The manual recommends to let the cd player break-in for 100 hours, I have seen on other forums that says this player takes 300-500 hours before it starts sounding really good. So far it sounds great, a little harsh on the top end.

Anyways, my question is, do I have to turn on my preamp and amplifier when breaking in my cd player? Can I just leave the cd player on repeat and have my preamp(tube) off and amplifier(solid state) off? Will this also break in my interconnects(new) connected to the cd player?

Thanks.
david
David, I believe you can simply leave the player on repeat with no other components on. This will burn in the lasers and caps that tend to require the most time. The interconnects require a load, thus you would need the pre-amp on for the link between each. I've seen it recommended to us a 8 Ohm resister between the speaker cables after un-hooking them from the speakers, this will burn in all of your cabling and yet not have the noise. (of cousre this will also take tube life away, but in a pre-amp I wouldn't worry about that too much)
Hi David. Jadem6's above suggestions have worked well for me. While I never used the 8 ohm resistor method, Jadem6's advice for burning in lasers and interconnects have done the trick in my system. After going through this process over and over, I have found that most manufacturers understate the amount of time needed for full break in. I would heed the advice of your forum member's experiences for the Cary. Good luck!
David, My Sony DVP-9000ES just kept getting better and better. It took about 500 hours to really shine. That is quite extensive, and you may only need 2-300 hours. Your ears will know, try to be patient. Good luck. Martin