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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 mitch2

mitch2
3,711 posts
 
Are the cables burning (or breaking, or running) in, or are your ears adjusting to what they are hearing, or maybe a little of both?  I have purchased many new cables and have made cables for the past 20 years.  I have used the Audiodharma Cable Cooker to condition both new and DIY cables since 2004 and while I certainly hear differences between different cables, I have never heard a cable that didn't exhibit its basic sonic signature from the beginning, or that improved from bad to good after conditioning on the cooker or after playing music in my system.  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
3,711 posts
 
Any of you who,
  • are in the process of building/improving/evolving your audio system,
  • believe there are significant sonic differences between cables, 
  • plan to try multiple audio cables in the future,
  • are likely to spend serious money on audio cables, and/or
  • plan to build your own cables, 
should give serious consideration to purchasing the audiodharma Cable Cooker from audio excellence az, or another type of cable conditioner. 

By conditioning your cables on the Cable Cooker you will take (most of?) the guesswork out of this whole burn-in discussion.  Even if you hear little to no difference after conditioning, you should at least have a level of confidence that you are actually hearing what the cables sound like.  By conditioning your new cables, you get to hear what they sound like shortly after you install them, instead of waiting days or months and wondering whether the cables are changing their presentation or whether it is actually your ears that are adjusting.  You can also "touch-up" the conditioning of your existing cables to remove burn-in concerns when comparing cables in your system.

Considering all the money some here spend on cables and other stuff, the $1-2K cost of the Cable Cooker (depending on the model you select) seems like money well spent.  I have no interest in the product or company, other than being a Cable Cooker owner since 2004.

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