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Break in time that extends to months or maybe even years!!

On another thread, we have a well known and well respected piece of gear ( and great sounding too, IME) that according to the member who is reviewing it, needs in excess of 1000 hours to fully break in!! 

While we have all heard of gear that needs immense amounts of 'break in' time to sound its best, usually gear that involves teflon caps, I question whether this very long break in time is the job for the consumer? Is it reasonable for a manufacturer of audio gear to expect the consumer to receive sub-par performance from his purchase for potentially several months ( years?) before the true sound of the gear in question can be enjoyed? Or, is it ( or should it be) perhaps the job of the manufacturer of this gear ( usually not low priced) to actually accomplish the 'break in' before releasing it from the factory? Thoughts...
128x128daveyf
bjesien
1,240 posts
 
We have Chain Pickerel in Mass, similar to Pike and Musky.  I'm not familiar with Walleye but they very much resemble the salt water Striped Bass but are not closely related.  

I can't tell you in if a cable has 200 hundred or 800 hours on it but I've been enjoying my system while eating brown trout lately.  
limomangus's avatar
limomangus
1,190 posts
 
How come break in time wasn't even thought about in the 70s or 80s or 90s  ? Was equipment better made then? Or are we being made fools of ?
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 

Hello @limomangus, nothing has changed since the old golden days... If you are nirvanized by factory-fresh equipment, or after a couple of hours of burn in, or 50, 100, 250, or whatever hours of break-in, continue to be happy about your audiophilic ways.


As for me, I am not even faintly concerned about new times, old times, what manufacturers say, dealers say, measurements say, reviewers say in print or on-line, audiophilic lore, urban legends, punditic profferings, conspiracy theories, or plain old-fashioned "what the neighbors say"... I just enjoy myself and trust my ears. Thus continue to cheerily break-in new equipment until I am satisfied that its performance has stabilized, and has presumably plateaud, regardless of what this might take, and whatever my "neighbors" say.


G.

  


daveyf's avatar
daveyf OP
2,835 posts
 
G. You bring up a good point. I do wonder how many times consumers in this hobby do what you do...versus buy something without A) ever listening to it, B) buy it based on price...and usually the higher the better, C) buy it based on a reviewer’s opinion D) buy it based on the recommendation from their dealer or E) buy it based on measurements alone..
mitch2
3,697 posts
 
How come break in time wasn't even thought about in the 70s
Too busy enjoying the great music!
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