Cable Break-in....again?


I recently purchased a used set of cables. According to the prior owner, the cables had been given roughly 120 hours of play time (the required break-in time according to the manufacturer). However, it seems that once I install the cables in my system, I can hear them break-in again, as if they were new.

Do you think that once a cable (either speaker or interconnect) has been disconnected for a period of time, they require another break-in period?
louisl
Bob P. -- I ain't sayin' yes an' I ain't sayin' no neither.

What I'm saying is: I can't say for sure -- maybe it's all too subtle for my hearing (which ain't what it used to be!)

But, "break-in" changes with other devices in the audio chain (especially MC cartridges, tube gear, and certain kinds of speakers) are so obvious just from simple listening comparisons that it's easy to assume it must be true of cables and power cords too. And maybe they do change (doesn't everything?) The question is: are the changes significant enough to affect what you hear?
Sorry guys I forgot that i had posted here.

I read if they were not used after burn in,they dont
need longer burn in, compare to the new one.In my
experience its true.
The problem is you need to apply to learn the truth in your universe. If you read and assume then you get confusion ....or audiogon.

C5150, I enjoyed your trancendental view of this hobby. I smell a new book in there somewhere!
It's pure science . If your car goes to heck ...it's decaying. Why if it stays motionless, by my account it will literaly disappear before your eyes. Do you know why it does't just vanish. The earth is rotating at more than 1000 mph just to go around once 24 hours.The earth goes around the sun at 66000 mph to complete a cycle of a year. The milky way is moving at 70000mph on top of that. So your car isn't totatly still is it. This your wire makers and engineers never will consider. They went to school of one reality.

.
in other words you are the one breaking in not the gear.

Actually your are with your perceptions taking in new info...and matching it against your recall to see what has changed.Change will persist. Your reality is now different. The guy who reads and assumes and never does anything( plug and play)... never can get a new info ,or reality going. All he can share with you is the same old.The thing is the same OLD is decaying and he gets bored with it. So by buying a new component can he get a new reality . Or you can learn to tune and constantly change the realty yourself.CREATE in other words. you have to live it to .....
Like it or not, cable burn in is a real phenomena. The problem is, and I suppose I don't really consider this a problem, not everyone perceives the difference. Just like I don't perceive absolute polarity to the same degree as my associate Steve....but it's real. I say this then; If you don't hear differences with cables burned in and broken in properly, be happy, be on your way and enjoy some music! No need to get bent as I've seen in some posts in the past.

Still, recognizing that not all folks hear the differences with cables being burned in, we offer two options to help with that; We can condition the cables on our 'dharma or, with the purchase of any of our cabling and at your request, we'll send along some audio grade meds that will change what you perceive in less than 5 minutes! The affect is not permanent but it's quit addicting!

Cheers!

(No, I'm not a substance user or abuser. Hell, I don't even drink!)

Robert
RSAD
Ridgestreetaudio,

Wow. That was authoritative...cable burn is real. Doesn't matter what anyone thinks...it is real, like it or not.

For the benefit of others....especially the skeptics out there.....let me play the devil's advocate a bit and challenge you a little on this.

It will give you a chance to convince others which may lead to more special cable sales ;)

So here goes...

Do you have any references or studies backing up these claims that you could share with us?

Testimonials doesn't really cut it for me when it comes to something as well studied as cables. If it is a "real phenomena" and if it makes an audible difference for some then surely the effects ought to be studied in electrical engineering somewhere; but I don't recall having seen anything. Perhaps you can point us to IEEE papers or other reputable engineering journals that have studied these effects in audio applications.

As you can see, I am more than a little skeptical. There are other skeptics out there too...

http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/audioprinciples/interconnects/speakercablebreak-in.php

I assume are we talking about the same ordinary copper wires that most people use...or are you referring to some other exotic cable conductor material that is known to be affected by AC electrical signals in the audio frequency range and therefore drifts in response and requires break-in?

If it is something exotic that drifts in properties and response under normal operating conditions then why is this material being used at all for audio applications? Surely, given alternatives, nobody would choose to use an exotic material that significantly changes properties over time, and for an application requiring accuracy and stability. This is simply poor engineering.