Burn in - a myth?

I think….


…sums it up nicely.

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True story, just happened.
I comared two ethernet cables, the differences were huge. Here is the point…I truly did not want this to be the case.

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Don’t worry just use the cheaper one. You ears will get used it it and it will continue to get better and better.

(Tongue firmly in cheek)

My only question is why would you do that? It is not a science experiment. If I buy new gear I want to spend as much time listening to it as possible :grin:

Many years ago I was fortunate enough to get a tour of the Mark Levinson/ Madrigal factory. someone asked why the preamps had no power switch. We were told solid state gear needs to reach Thermal Stability, and once they get there to leave things on. Oh and newly built gear was run in for a full week before being checked and then packed and shipped

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This is true of course. A plain and boring wine can be quite enjoyable if you become thirsty enough, and then someone goes and pours you a Smirnoff! :rofl:

Already used to the cheaper one!

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I do that because I want to eliminate the ability of my brain adapting to the sound, so that any “burn in” I hear, I clearly know is actually that & not just my brain adjusting. Personally I’ve found my brain will start adapting after several hours of listening. I’ve given a few examples of this happening to me, on here before but didn’t want to write another long winded post. It’s rather interesting what you can find out about your brains ability to adjust when you have more then one setup, that are sonically different.

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That of course is not burn-in (unless a used and brand new otherwise identical cables?), and there are scientific explanations as to why different ethernet cables (and switches) might sound different - and whether/how much/what difference depends on the gear being fed, some more susceptible than others, and rest of any attached network, and the electromagnetic environment through which the network passes.

may I ask what two you are comparing

Acoustica Chester replaced the 300DR Iain. They are superb. Their service is unbeatable.

All is working well. And wow. Sounds wonderful already. I think the 250DR is absolutely brilliant but the 300DR is already better, and it’s only 6 hours old! What an Amp. Listening to Johnny Cash’s ‘Hurt’. Visceral. Wow.

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Chord c- stream → Nordost Hemidall 2.
The point is that I did not want the latter to sound better, quite the opposite.
Expectation bias debunked!

It just gets better over time :smile:

Enjoy.

We enjoyed our 250DR too, but wouldn’t go back. The 300 has so much more control over our speakers, and bass to blow your socks off!

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I think we’ve discussed this in another place, concluding that this was due to the cartridge warming up. However, I have found that if I set the stylus down on the AT637 vibrating pad for a few seconds, it pre-warms the cartridge. Or at least that’s what I tell myself.

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Indeed yes.
Great “tip” for warming things up. :+1:t2:

Undoubtedly you heard what you heard, but I would think if you did not want one to sound better than the other you already had a bias towards the idea that it might, which may (or may not) have affected what you heard.

(I use wireless in to my Auralic Aries G2, in order to avoid any of the nasties that such cables as you have trialled are designed to counteract).

.sjb

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and of course Naim soak test aka ‘burn in’ new equipment before it leaves the factory so I remember seeing. the probability of failure is higher during this initial burn in period… so customers can be assured of using an already run in Naim product when they purchase it new with the increased assurance of reliability.
Of course components will need to warm up to their quiescant operating temperature when powered up from cold… and this may take a little time - but shouldnt really be confused with ‘burn in’ of electronic products.

Additional things, I say, that may change from setup - mechanical suspension systems settling into their optimum state, contact connectors settling into an optimum compliant state, and loudspeaker suspension systems loosening up. Apart from the last one - the devices don’t need to powered up to achieve.

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Ah, I have bias agiants bias, therefore I am biased.

Indeed - whenever anybody says trust your ears - which is absolutely fine - and in a way is what it is all about - is almost certainly influenced by expectation bias or subconscious bias - and the latter works in many ways even if you are consciously trying to act against it… so to counter one has to be objective with specific measures… of course this kind of goes against the grain with hifi - where trust your ears is usually used - but at this point any assessment of preference on a non faulty system, is almost purely subjective and personal and likely responding more to cognitive influences than purely physical influences… especially where terms like ‘SQ has improved’ are used - as opposed to ‘the feel of the sound has changed slightly’'…

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Suppose two pieces of gear sound the same but measure differently and you’re presented with the results of the test.

Do you suddenly begin to perceive the differences because the spec sheet shows it or do you listen and still observe that you cannot hear a difference?

I’ve had occasions where I haven’t heard the difference between two pieces of equipment. Even when I wanted to, I couldn’t hear it.

Point being if you can hear it that’s all that matters right?

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