Need to turn volumn up to break in speaker cable?

It is a real compromise. Try to burn in with what you like listening to most ...and that will be best.

If you burn in with Jazz music then rock will sound funky.

If you burn in with a computer signal then all music will sound digital.

If you burn in with classical music then rock guitars will lose their edge.

If you burn in with rock music then classical music will sound harsh.

Just remember that the cables can get musically stiff during burn in and sometimes left or right channel can get polarized. I suggest thoroughly flexing the cables once each hour (wrap cables around your ankles and see Jane Fonda's work out video for how best to do this) and, above all, don't forget to swap cables from left to right channel every 10 hours to avoid stereo image drift.

LOL ;-)

Hello Yxlei,

No, you don't need to turn the volume up to break-in cables. You do however need to play a recording with a wide bandwidth.

Good luck,
Tom

You don't need high volume. You just need the signal passing through the cables to the speakers. I always use my tuner and run at a low volume........

Just paly music through the unit. Do you really think break in CD's are going to make a difference. If so I got some swamp land for you. Play music and dont be so caught up in hype. Music before hype.

Shadorne, I like the way you think about such burn-in questions, and please God tell me you're joking. Keep up the good work.

Hey Shadorne, what would be the resulting sonic characteristic of using the audio from Queer As Folk on constant 24 hour rotation to break in my cables? I know the neighbors appreciate my method, but will my speaker cables and interconnects be more prone to lisping and hissing?

Break in discs on the contrary do indeed work . Get the Purist Audio Break in disc .

Higher voltage and current through the cables would accelerate the break-in, so the basic answer is yes, to an extent. So, what do you do about the noise?

You can connect BIG power resistors instead of speakers. They will get very hot if you're running 10W or more, even if the resistors you buy are rated for that power level. For levels above 10W you should consider metal-encased resistors with a heat sink and perhaps even a cooling fan.

If you don't want to put hours on your precious amp, then buy a high-power receiver from a thrift store and tune it between FM stations with the mute off. The white noise is a pretty decent burn-in "program" material!
Turn the volume up slowly and monitor the temperature of the power resistors as you do that. Heat build-up in large resistors is quite slow, so give them a few minute with each step of the volume control.

Another method is to connect the speaker cables as power cords for a high power appliance. I cannot recommend this method to anyone that is not familiar with electrical installations safety requirements.

Last comment... IF your spakers are new, they will need a serious burn in and there is no way around that noise issue. :-(
Some burn-in CDs have subsonic and ultrasonic material, which lowers the perceived exposure to noise, but it's inevitable. The midrange drivers must be "moved" and the only way to do that is with audible tones.

Gunbei,

Actually this should have no effect on your sound at all. Just be wary of any male neighbours who volunteer to help you relieve the musical stiffness in your cables.

Break in disc is snake oil. My God how foolish are people on here.

If you touch your nose with your foot it wil make the imaging beeter

Actually, the break-in discs realign the binary code structure that your amp's transformer sees, therefore increasing the oxygen capacity of your cables. And everyone knows that it's touching your nose w/your ELBOW that makes imaging better. Geez, this is so basic.

LOL - Bojack - I love it - feel the force - yeah baby!