Tubes don't burn in but your hearing gets accustomed to the music and tricks your brain into believing there have been changes. Interestingly, literally every example that I've read of something "burning in" has resulted in better sound. How could that be?
Simple question, probably stupid
Is it necessary to have sound (music or white noise) playing through the speakers when burning in new tubes? I have bought a matched quad of Shuguang KT88 Z Black Treasure tubes to compare with my current Gold Lion KT88 and Tung-Sol KT120 tubes in a Rogue Stereo 90 amp. Reviews of the Shuguang tubes indicate that they need around 200 hours of burn in to reach their true potential but I am not looking forward to having to listen to 200 hours of crap sound.