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New cables - To judge now or after burn in period?

I am in the midst of auditioning a host of Siltech speaker cables (Siltech Legend 380i & 680i) and interconnects (XLR and RCA - Siltech Legend 380i). Needless to say, they are quite a bit more costly than my existing QED cables (QED Genesis Silver Spiral Bi-wire & QED Signature 40 interconnects).

The Siltech cables are highly recommended by my distributor and seem to be well received by the audiophile press. However, doubts arise as upon trying them at home they do not sound as dynamic as my existing QED cables. While the highs are more resolving and I am hearing things that I have not heard before, the bass seems constricted and the music does not make my feet tap anymore.

Is that because the cables are brand new and have not been burnt in as yet? Or is it because there is no synergy between the cables and my particular system? Or is it a bit of both? If it is a burn in issue, how many hours of burn in is required before I should make a judgment as to whether I prefer the sound of the interconnects and speaker cables?

All inputs or observations are welcome.

128x128dcpillai

Showing 2 responses by gakerty

gakerty's avatar
gakerty
175 posts
 
" IME, if you don't like what you hear after a couple of hours, and certainly after a couple of days, then you probably don't like the sound of the cable."

mitch2, I agree completely.  A cable won't transform this way.  Break in is a subtle change, and a cable's basic sound signature won't change.  
gakerty's avatar
gakerty
175 posts
 
IMO, cables do "break in" to a certain extent (e.g. the highs will smooth out a bit, become less strident, bass fills out a touch), but if you do not like the sound of your new cable, no amount of burn in will make it good.  If it's bad, its a system mismatch (or bad cable).  Same goes for all components IMO.
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