Hello everyone,

I read on many forums that cables need to be "used" a long time to give the best of themselves.

I don't understand the phenomen.. (I thaught it was a new marketting trick!)
Have you guys heard something theoritical about it ?


If it's true:
you "used" your cables a year 24/24hrs, you don't use them the next year
and then, when you want to use them again, is there a need of burn in?

Thanks

Have a nice day.

I am not aware of any real scientific basis that supports the notion that cables need to be "burned-in."

I think it is more likely that if the cables do influence the "sound" (the subjective evaluation of the sound quality by the listener), that it is more likely that the listener "gets used to" the "sound" and tends to like it better. This is especially the case when the listener has paid a lot of money for these cables.

Cables can change over time, and can degrade or be damaged. It is more likely that a cable that has been in use for an extended period of time would degrade, as versus "improve."

It is possible for the cable to influence the "sound" of analog signals, but this effect generally does not change over time or with use; except for the degradation mentioned above.

Brad Johnson
Lavry Engineering Technical Support

When you get tired of listening to a cable in one direction, disconnect it, swap ends and try it in the other direction for a while.

boB

As I see it, after 'wasting time' on audiophile forums and a little on pro forums to see what hardware is available and some opinions about it, it's about bad coupling of cables or parts of the SKU as in 'cracks' in the circuit. This view is also enforced on topics about changing in preference of cables everytime when power conditioning is changed and probably too much "referencing" (it should sound more like their favorite recording(s) - the reference). It's really more of an education problem than anything else. Some might sense it like a 'search for cracks' but most only talk about their 'preference' of music, not reference audio.

I haven't seen sites that ask for special cables and complains about bad quality of them altough I have seen overpriced cables in quantity exceeding 1 milion €/$/£. Those that try several times should start spending on education.


...and if you observe differences at least one manufacturer isn't professional.

I also think so.

Well, how do you burn in a cable without simultaneously warming up the amp (and DAC)? I think my amp sounds a little smoother after 24 hours of staying on, rather than just 1 hour. Hard to proove, but each time that I find myself thinking, wow, it's finally sounding great, I seem to recall not having turned off the amp the day before... Don't tell Walter Sear's ghost. But, just maybe, in the case of cable burn-in, the amp is simply better settled in, and the cable is just along for the ride?





Andrew