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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 1 response by nonoise

nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,590 posts
 
Until I got my Darwin speaker cables, all other brands had a slow and subtle break in over time. Looking back, that told me that practically all cables are just a variation on a theme and behave accordingly.

The Darwins were the first speaker cables to break in differently. For the first four hours or so, they behaved like any other I've tried. Then, they blossomed like a time elapsed video of a flower, opening up like nothing I've heard before.

You'll find there are few makes out there that are different than the usual run of cables.

All the best,
Nonoise
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