@Graham I doubt the ‘current thinking’ has progressed significantly beyond these. Happy reading!
Interesting, thanks.
It’s possible to enjoy music through it AND have a questioning mind, they’re not mutually exclusive 
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Very philosophical. Do cables still burn in if no one is listening to them?!? 
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Thanks.
I am becoming more convinced that fresh solder joints need about 6-8 hours to sound right… I have adjusted my treble level recently, this involves unsoldering one resistor and replacing for another. All of which are considered to be “run in” but for some reason this fresh solder joint seems to need a little time to sound smooth again. Might just be me but it seems to be the same every time. Weird. I am definitely of the opinion that cables sound different but not sure about an old for new of the same type… never tried that.
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I should resist the temptation to jump into the snake pit.
But the thing that strikes me about this topic is a presumption thatve observer’s hearing is a constant. Shouldn’t all observations come with a disclaimer that one’s ears might have been having an off day? Or for that matter that the listening environment was somehow different? (Humidity, temperature, background noise, etc.)
I am not satisfied that the claim “it sounded different” can be attributed to one factor (such as the cable) and dismissing these other variables.
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Yes I agree it is definitely a strange topic. I have been convinced that a change of cables caused a distinct improvement only to swap back months later and be convinced of the reverse. Sometimes I think the brain perceives changes and we immediately search for, and affirm the changes to be positive.
In my system I have a set of silver plate cables and a set of pure copper. I am 90% sure that I could pick which was on in a blind test. I always end up with the copper on because it sounds warmer. The silver sounds a tad thin on male voices. Particularly on the Atom.
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Happy to be convinced by burning in (as I was for cable dressing and getting a Fraim) so there may actually be something in this idea of burning in.
My take on it is that gives the manufacturers a get-out when you get it home and it doesn’t sound as great as the demo in the shop or the expected uplift from the new cable that everyone on here raved about is missing - ‘course it doesn’t sound great yet, it needs nn hours to burn in before you get the full effect’, nn hours being an arbitrary value that’s long enough for your ears to get used to the sound and for you to be happy with it having convinced yourself that it has indeed improved.
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All my current cables were demoed at home with well run versions. When I received the new ones they all sounded different to the ones demoed… not massively but there was a digital, edgy brightness that wasn’t there with the demoed versions.
I tend to run them in overnight, swap the originals back during the day and give the new ones a quick listen every 24-48hrs or so to see how they’re sounding.
I’ve no idea whether it’s a burning in thing or not but I’ve generally found new gear and most cables to need some run in time, especially silver ones, before they sound their best.
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If you put them in a fire, probably - but beware possible toxic fumes.
I have an open mind about whether cable burn in is needed or not. As someone who comes from a background where research and evidenced based practice was a part of my working day, I think there probably needs some research into this to find out whether and/or how much the effect is. Maybe a RCT (randomised control trial) methodolgy could work but would be expensive to undertake.
A user can experiment this with two identical cables, same cable, same plugs.
One of them connected and playing for one month, and the other in the box like new. Then listen to both after 30 days and take their conclusions.
I have two Heimdall 2 Nordost power cables in my system . One for my integrated amp and the other in my Naim Ndac. When I first put the system together I only had one one of these cables used in the amp and the Ndac used an older Nordost power cable. Several months later when the second Heimdall 2 power cable was installed I did try to investigate if I could hear any differences to the fresh out the box one to the other one that had been running.
I found using the fresh one on the source/dac and the older one on the amp sounded after an extended listening to be a little shouty, some aspects seemed brittle and lacking a nimbleness but had more obvious bass. Using the older one on the dac and the fresh one on the amp seemed much more nimble and smoother, a little lacking in dynamics but without any obvious boost in any frequencies.
This was a few years ago and any swap around today has no detectable differences.
My take that it could be not so much the cable burning in - more the way the cable terminates with its particular connection and settling with the transfer.
Perhaps cables with complex over engineered connections could take longer than those with just the barest essentials needed, and whether crimped or soldered
Better to have someone else swap them (or not) without the user knowing. Can the user reliably tell which is connected / whether they’ve been swapped?
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My solution is to use the same brand as much as possible and not worry about it.
But my experience is that cable’s do change. They change by usage Google: Cable Cooker
Also and this is a strange one : cable’s need to settle in. Anyone can try this. Simply remove a pair of interconnects, say from Dac to amp, preamp to power amp, take the cable and wrap it around your hand, not so tight as to damage the cable. Then take the cable and reinstall it. Listen to the system right after putting the cable back. The system will sound different. Wait 24 hours or overnight listen again should sound as it did originally.
I’ve not tried this but, if this phenomenon is repeatable, it ties in to the mechanical stress theory I outlined earlier.
Interestingly, a quick google found that measurable changes in electrical properties of wires as a result of stressing the metal were published by the Royal Society as long ago as 1894!
The effects of mechanical stress on the electrical resistance of metals (royalsocietypublishing.org)
Mark
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It’s certainly repeatable. George Cardas noticed this phenomenon in the early 90’s of the need for cables to “settle in” after being moved around. I think he still talks about this on his website.
Fabulous find, thank you! Maybe Lord Kelvin had come across this while being involved in the laying of the first undersea communications cable between the UK and the US. A fabulous essay by Neal Stephenson about this is here: Mother Earth, Mother Board
Indeed - the thought that led me to it was whether heavy power engineers might have measured an effect when setting up long-distance HV pylons. Would putting a heavy cable under stress by hanging it between pylons cause any changes to its expected electrical properties? Maybe it’s negligible, because I found the Royal Society paper before anything more recent!
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