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
@rldwv  I do apologize for the recent "personal" attacks as you put it.

I just got fed up with all the pseudoscience some members publish and it seens its on every discussion thread.  This hurts our hobby and confuses those of us who are not engineers.

I agree  100%  on Leo's advice as well.

I also agree with you on hearing loss and how it increases with age.  Fortunately, I can still hear the difference between any Bose speaker and  Magnepan 20.7s(hint).
Nonoise: "Do you think that your appeals to authority, name dropping and your credentials intimidate in any way, shape or form? "

Your name is ironic, since you’re adding things I never said (called "noise"). Oh, I did mention "Aerosmith", so I guess I did name-drop.

I posted no credentials, so I’m sorry if you felt intimidated. Let me fix that. I spent ten weeks learning at the USN Anti Submarine Warfare training center in San Diego. You might imagine that acoustics were a topic of discussion there. I was also employed as a senior engineer with Boeing Defense System (you may have heard of them) for seven years working on projects I cannot discuss, but their alignment is relevant to this discussion. I have a BS in math and an MS in Computer Science. Enough said, and I’m sure there are those here with much more impressive CV’s than mine.

All us doubters are saying is "prove it". I don’t know how else you can prove it without a measurement. Most engineers embrace the addage "In God We Trust, all others bring data".

You know what causes changes in how you hear your system? Everything (but probably not the layer of copper molecules adjacent the molecules in your dielectric). Is it getting warmer outside? Is it getting warmer inside? Any change in Barometric Pressure? Did you invite a friend over to listen? Are you standing in a different spot? Did your friend just recline in his chair? Both of you are reflecting some sound energy frequencies and absorbing others. You have changed the room dynamics measurably. Been in the room for several minutes? You’ve probably raised the temperature and the humidity in there, not to mention altered the air volume of the room. Are you worried about the testing? Worried about whether our not your "friend" is going to like your system? Even small amounts of stress and blood pressure change how our ears perform. How loud was it before you walked into your listening room? All of these factors are infinitely more measurable than the alignment of molecules in your cable.

But what it really boils down to is this: are you happier? If "yes", then who gives a crap why? Our minds play tricks on us all the time, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If your kid isn’t going to college because you spent the money on cables, that’s a different issue, but not one I think likely here.

Let me offer some unsolicited advice. Listen to your music and not your system. If you’re fretting over how much better that violin or sax could sound if those unruly little molecules would stay in line, then you are missing the entire point, and cheating yourself out of the enjoyment you’ve paid a lot of money for. As an early HTPC pioneer, I lived that mistake (IRT video quality) for far too long.

azbrd: I would certainly hope so. Just remember that the retirement home isn’t going to allow your Maggies in, so you may need to adapt some day :-) (I know, I know, better dead than Bose...)
I called Morrow today to see where the cables I ordered were after having to hold the order until I returned from a vacation (on their way it seems), and asked them what I should do if I like the pre burned in sound...in jest of course...they did say I was the first to ask that...they told me to listen only a few minutes a day and un-plug them after.
"they told me to listen only a few minutes a day and un-plug them after."

Wow! I just can't even imagine passing this off to a customer as advice. If they're unplugged after every use, won't all the snake oil leak out? 
jerry, hopefully they came to their senses before waving the dead chicken.  Salmonella is such a risk these days.

rdwv: maybe in your time you ran into Bill Kenney who wrote this:http://www.tempoelectric.com/Wire_and_Cable_Facts.pdf

One can reasonably extract from his findings that what connectors and RCA jacks can do a signal can do the exact same thing to wires once differences are introduced (different metallurgy, alloys, coatings, dielectrics, etc.)

I find it funny that those who adhere to strict measurements always discount the smaller differences in measurements or who cite even smaller, extraneous phenomena as the reason. It's a great fallback position.

I've always trusted my ears, even when I hear a difference. I've never had the occasion to doubt my senses until coming upon sites like this, only to realize that fundamentalists exist in all manner of discipline, and to treat them with caution, like I do with all the other disciplines. 

All the best,
Nonoise