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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
gakerty's avatar
gakerty
175 posts
 
IMO, cables do "break in" to a certain extent (e.g. the highs will smooth out a bit, become less strident, bass fills out a touch), but if you do not like the sound of your new cable, no amount of burn in will make it good.  If it's bad, its a system mismatch (or bad cable).  Same goes for all components IMO.
mitch2
3,717 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.  
gakerty's avatar
gakerty
175 posts
 
" 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, I agree completely.  A cable won't transform this way.  Break in is a subtle change, and a cable's basic sound signature won't change.  
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Right. What you hear right out of the box is basically what you get. Really good cables will improve a lot as they equilibrate, but in a way that is more a refinement of how they start out than a change to something new. I wouldn't call it subtle, as the difference is quite obvious. But neither is it a radical change. The fundamental character is always there right from the start. When people complain or question after several hours, and are being told it needs 100, 200, 400 hours, they are being fed a fable, and nothing more.
knighttodd
197 posts
 
+1millercarbon. If you like the sound from the beginning your ears are going to become better accustomed to the sound as it settles in to your system. 
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