Do speaker cables need a burn in period?


I have heard some say that speaker cables do need a 'burn in', and some say that its totally BS.
What say you?


128x128gawdbless
@hifiman51  A few years ago i replaced my existing cables with some slightly longer ones of the EXACT same brand and gauge.   The existing cables had >1000 hours of use the new ones had none and I could NOT hear ANY difference between the 2 sets. I had a few friends over so I could swap  the 2 sets for them,  Back and forth we went and none of us could hear any difference between the sets.

I guess my system is missing  "dynamic swing?" so I was unable to hear what a "broken" in cable sounds like.  Also, please define what "dynamic swing" is????
@erik_squires :  Much different situations effecting the changes in these devices: Speakers, being electromechanical devices, will change continuously (usually for the worse).  I remember an old Western Electric film (yes film, not a video) showing slow motion photography of an operating speaker.  It clearly showed how the driver's cone rippled and distorted throughout each excursion (even at low amplitudes).  It's no wonder that over time the light cone materials become less ridged and far less efficient at moving air.

Capacitors have been found to change in several ways: actual capacitance value can change due to physical changes in the shape of the dielectric material (the capacitor may swell) or because of changes in the properties of the dielectric, generally caused by decomposition due to heat-induced chemical changes.  The latter problem is especially inherent to the paper dielectric material found in those boutique audio capacitors we are so fond of.  Another change capacitors are prone to is leakage of DC current.  This problem, due to such things as chemical changes caused by the breakdown of the adhesives in the dielectric, will (over time) cause the capacitor to conduct enough DC current to cause changes elsewhere in the circuit.  This is especially troublesome when coils, like output transformers, crossover inductors, and speaker voice coils, are subjected to excessive DC current.

But, during all the degradation and chaos our sound reproduction systems are vulnerable to, there is one constant we can depend upon...the resistivity (the measure of current flow through a conductor) of the wire connecting the component parts of our machines, will remain remarkably constant.  This is probably why most of the reputable manufacturers will test and "burn-in" components such as tubes, transistors, and transformers.  Some will even burn-in passive components, like chokes, power resistors, and capacitors used in the signal path... but NONE of them burn-in the interconnect wire. 
@lanceo .   Who is my hero?  If you are referring to Toynbee I don't consider him to be heroic but the quotes you cited are obviously true.   Rome wasn't killed by externals. Their own cultural degradation led to so great a devaluation of humanity that they did commit suicide.  Check out the current suicide rates in the West especially among the younger citizens. Sad stuff. 

Regarding the human mind.  Science will never"contain" it.  Science doesn't explain the pleasure of viewing a beautiful work of art or more relevant here, beautiful sounding music.  It can't tell me why I prefer Shostakovich to Mahler.   I respect your engineering expertise but for your sake, don't let it limit your humanity. 

@azbrd .  I am sorry to hear that you and your friends were unable to hear cable differences.  If you were swapping them in and out of the system, it would be difficult to perceive. As anecdotal testimony from many who post here demonstrates, burn in and settling time affect the cable's sound. If you were switching the cables in and out in a non blind test, the switching would obfuscate the differences. 

"Dynamic swing" means to me a rhythmic and dynamic life to music. The classic reference to "it got my foot tapping". It, at least for me, is an essential quality of musical immersion and enjoyment.