Burn in - a myth?

This was part of the parcel received yesterday

A pair of interconnects to replace an old Monstercable set that only just reached to connect a just repaired Audiolab CD8200, eleven caps and replacement drive.
I reckon I don’t have a cats chance working out what has done what. The cable change makes for more comfortable listening, or are the caps burning in, or…

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Anything that doesn’t sound good out of the box gets returned immediately. I’ve only had to do this once with a cable and it wasn’t Naim. The bloke said it needs 300 hours to run in :roll_eyes:

If you bought a new TV and it was Black and White for a week would you be happy?

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What’s peoples opinion on phono cartridge burn in time?

Is there a difference between MC, MM or MI?

TVs need burning in and then recalibrating after a number of hours. And computer monitors. And rechargeable batteries. And high-end temp probes.

I’m sure if I thought about it and also Googled, I could make a long list.

I’m sure you could, it doesn’t make it true though.

Maybe my engine will need a remap a few months after it has been done when the O² sensor runs in…?

Don’t be stupid and get over it.

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Just to report back, the Furutech DPS 4.1 LE have now been in my system for about a week.

They are far more impressive than I had even thought they would be. I’ll start by saying the NAP 135s sound more authoritative. There is, as expected a lower noise floor and altogether a more emotional presentation. The busy passages in songs make more sense and all the instruments are playing all of the time without any distortion.

Having said that, i will also report there is a slight hardness to the sound. There is a lot more detail but the sound is NOT settled as of yet.

As somebody reported Furutech cables have a very long burn in time so I’m expecting there to be a more soft and delicate sound when the cables eventually settle in fully.

Changing the fuses was a bit tricky as I couldn’t figure out where the fuse is located. Eventually I figured it out.


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There is a very short window of optimabilty.
After a prolonged burn in - the systems will prove its optimal abilities which is the bit where you enjoy listening.
After a short while the systems abilities are heading towards burn out and getting closer to that service deadline.
Happens sooner than you would like.

I have a Furutech plug and socket on my hydra.

It took a long time to burn in and settle in.

Did you have power-lines on your previous 135s?

Prior to this I had Powerline lite cables running to the 135s

Not only do we have cables burning in but now we have plugs and sockets too

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I’ve just got a new consumer unit…still burning in :wink:

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We’ve recently been connected to a new power station - apparently it will take around 6 months for this to burn in…

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I beg to differ. No component takes more than 6 months (cables and plugs far less) to optimise and none will deteriorate (phono cartridge aside) for a good ten years. I’m informed that my S1 is good for double that.

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Is your plug rhodium plated?

This is from an article on MCRU’s site called ‘The Conductivity of Metals Used in Hi-Fi’:

“* Rhodium plated plugs?
Rhodium is a precious metal from the platinum family. It is hard, acid-resistant, and has a very high melting point (1964°C). Compared to other platinum metals, it is a very good conductor, but still only half as good as gold and just one third as good as silver. Therefore, it is misplaced as a coating in a domestic environment.

Its sound characteristics are often described as harsh and analytic.

It does however have its justification in industrial environments with high temperatures, for instance near blast furnaces, where it reliably does its job at temperatures where gold would already start to melt (which it does at 1064°C).”

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Hi Jim,

Yes I’m aware of this. My silver cables also had Rhodium plated silver connectors. Eventually the harshness does go away. It’s takes a bloody age though. I would imagine with the Furutech NCF plugs it’ll take longer as the coating seems to be thicker than on my other connectors.

I use a different plug on my TCS31 and I can tell you they will take a very long time to burn in. In my system, it initially sounded good but then not good in the first 2 months. Now in their 3rd month the sound is opening up with improved clarity and detail. During the bad days music sound muffled with leading edge showing roundness without bite, and the sound of certain instruments is not projected out from the speakers but subdued and drowned in the mix.

I suspect there may be potential for further improvement but it takes a long time. I now have a little hesitation in trying new Furutech cables because of the long burn in but no doubt they are good.

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One could only imagine the cost of their cables. :grin:

When burn in is this bad, I wonder how high their return rates are for their rhodium-plated cables?