The molecular level explanation of "cable burn-in"


According to one cable seller

"The insulation (or dielectric) will absorb energy from the conductor when a current is flowing (i.e. when music is playing). This energy-absorption causes the dielectric's molecules to re-arrange themselves from a random order into a uniform order. When the molecules have been rearranged, the dielectric will absorb less energy & consequently cause less distortion."

So it’s the plastic polymer (as dielectric insulation) to undergo some sort of molecular rearrangements to minimize the distortion. Probably one of the greatest scientific discoveries ever!

“Many premium AC cords constrict or compress the audio transient as their characteristic impedance restricts the transient current.”

We all know impedance restricts current but how possibly “many” premium AC cords constrict/compress the audio transient (when not carrying audio signal)? Then again is it achieved by this molecular rearrangements of the cable insulation?

Unfortunately there are no measurement data or mathematical formulas to be found to back up this amazing scientific discovery. Simply “it happens”. So I came up with a formula for them.

∆E = P - SoT

∆E: energy absorbed by dielectric

P: energy (power) drawn from wall outlet

So : Smake Oile

T: Dielectric Transition Temperature

classicrockfan

it is clear to me not by scientific dogmatic faith or by proven scientific controlled experiments, not even by the cables marketters, but by simple experiment anybody can replicate that some minerals near the end of any connectors affect the sound quality perception ...

i even designed my own protective and filtering devices ....Homemade.... I proposed a simple experiment above and nobody dare to try it by blind faith or deaf indifference ... 😊

Since the many years i came in audio threads i read discussion without ends where all kind of scientists, real one or pseudo one with all variation of experiences , technicians , cables designers , amateurs of cables etc war against one another...

i am not qualified at all to separate the one who knows from those who dont and all in between in electro- magnetism facts ...

But being a grown up i devised the above experiment with shungite and quartz , after few years of others experiments to design my own "tweaks" homemade ...

it taught me that there is something about the audible effects of some minerals near any piece of gear cables or not ...

i even described the effect...

i can even put science litterature article confirming my above statement about sound qualities associated with shungite and quartz , their differences etc ...

it is better to experiment than to quarrel about the greatest electro-magnetic "balls"...

i will lost the contest anyway being a "poet" and a philosopher not a physicist ... 😊

 

«I always see Poynting vectors in my shower»--Groucho Marx🤓

 

@cleeds

 

That’s not even remotely true. Why are you trying to revise history?

Here’s the Wikipedia entry on transatlantic cables. It looks historically accurate to me, and note it references reliable sources.

You think the full history of the world is summarized on a Wikipedia page?? Thats hilarious..talk about gullible!

Not going to bother talking here anymore, tried to have a light conversation and people run around with pitchforks, looking for every typo or slip up to discredit you as if this were a courtroom instead of hobbyists sharing with each other. I'm not here to prove anything, just share interesting things I've come across. What joke.

I guess if you think the whole world is out to get you, you take on this attitude in life. I don't and hopefully won't ever be like that.

Good luck

 

 

Let’s hear from cable manufacturers about "cable burn-in". National Wire and Cable Corporation is one of the few good cable manufacturers in America actually do wire drawing/annealing/stranding/extrusion etc.. All the major brands (cable resellers) buy bulk cables from these manufacturers (or from china) and do cutting/terminating/seasoning with snake oil (extra jackets and all pseudo science magic lamps dielectric bias art console network or other passive RF filters (???) and stabilizers etc..)/packaging them to sell. Ask the actual manufacturers for their opinion on cable burn-in. They will give you an honest and direct answer to the question. "No there is no such thing as cable burn in." And ask about those magic oil lamps.

All my coworkers told me to stop wasting my weekends on this forum. And the weather gets better recently in the bay area.

"All my coworkers told me to stop wasting my weekends on this forum."

- Listen to your coworkers ...

An anecdote:

Back in the 70s I was charged with manufacturing and calibration of microvolemtric lab equipment to the 6th place (microgram by mass). We decided to mold the bodies of these handheld piupetters and dilutors out of PFVD, a remarkably nice, hard, moldable and machinable fluorocarbon with full chemical (except fluorines) inertness. After being in the market across hundreds of labs internationally we found that a percentage of the bodies developed a small but VERY conspicuous crack that, although innocuous, was not acceptable. We found that indeed the PVDF, like its softer cousins, cold-flowed across time. In that sense one could imagine the "rearrangement" of molecules mentioned and derided above. We found that we could accelerate the proicess by simply applying heat and pressure for a few minutes (as in a clinical lab/dentist's  autoclave), wherein the PVDF then quickly reset due to the thermal shock...and then remained completely stable for many years (as far as could be ascertained). Is this cold-flow "curing" part of the so-called burn-in (npi) audio process. I doubt it. But still...?

The other aspect I wish to mention is the possibility that break-in is associated with the build-up of statis micro-voltages when handling cables in dry winter rooms. These charges have to quench to ground. My latest experience with my (ArgentPur) cables is that speaker cables may require 0-100hrs burn to fully "open up", whereas folks are saying that ICs do not. This leads me to question whether the delta is correlated with mass or length (spkr cables are bigger/longer), or usually on a static-charged rug!

YOUR thoughts? Thanks. ErnieM