Value of burn/break in?


I have my first hi end audio system. I fired it up, popped in a cd, and it doesn't have the vibrant sound that I thought it might have. I have a slightly used demo power amp from a dealer, slightly used demo speakers from a dealer, but a brand new tube preamp. A friend of mine told me that I will see a huge difference in sound quality once the tube preamp breaks in. I was wondering if I should get a break in cd or just wait till normal listening does the job
128x128easola01

Showing 2 responses by wolf_garcia

I'm breaking in two new things...a Pangea wall plug and a new belt for my Linn table. The wall plug's most important job is to power a REL sub, which it did right off the bat with zero break-in. Amazing. The Linn belt also seems to accomplish the task of making the platter go around also with zero break-in, which makes me suspicious of both these items...were they used previously? Hmmm...
If you prefer the sound of pre "burned in" gear you have to turn the whole thing off for several days (or sometimes months) between listening sessions, and those sessions have to take place right after you power up the system and for no longer than an hour or so.