Cable burn in

And all the more reason quick cable shoot outs don’t work if one is moving the cables all around.

Yes, I agree that can’t be discounted, but neither can it be confirmed!

All I can offer is that my wife also noticed a difference and she has zero interest in technical details, to her things are either better, worse or the same.

Could it be that the change of cables cleans the contacts, thus making a sonic difference?

I’m not sure it is that simple…

If you have to power off part of the system to switch the cables then this introduces a further variable.

You are right.

I never took that into account, when I purchased my cables a I did not give too much importance to the process. I liked them when I first plugged and burnin occurred naturally.

The same for the power and speaker cables. But the amp, cd, streamer they all changed substantially,.

So it’s possible my cables have changed since the beginning for the better, but I listen every day and the change was for sure slow, I did not had clear ideia how much better they have turn.

I am certain if I purchase another identical audioquest earth, and connect it at the same streamer the difference between new and mine should be evident or not, and only then I could quantify the difference of burnin between the two.

Depends if the person who is not listening is you or someone else…yeah, that’s right…I think.

According to the nicely researched article (bottom of this post) that was linked by @anon96879789 , there is no practical scientific basis for cable burn-in.

Relevant excerpt:

For a copper conductor to change its conductivity you have to either change its dimensions, crystalline structure or temperature.

Its dimensions will not change - it is set at the time of manufacturing. The crystalline structure will only change at temperatures approaching or exceeding 371◦C, which is ETP copper’s starting annealing temperature. In normal use, the speaker wires will never approach this temperature.

The only factor left is [operating] temperature. Copper’s resistivity changes with temperature, however this change will attenuate the signal uniformly (a small phase shift is also introduced but the effect is almost incalculably small as the temperature changes in speaker wires due to normal use is insignificant - not more than a couple of ◦C as the power dissipated P=I2R loss= 4.332×0.388 = 7.3 W over a surface area of 0.2 m2. A temperature increase of 5◦C will increase power losses by 0.11 W). When the amplifier is switched off and the temperature drops back to ambient, the resistivity will drop back to what it was - no permanent effect will occur. Therefore, it is not possible to achieve any kind of permanent change in copper wire by sending audio signals at hi-fi power levels through the speaker wires - unless perhaps you create a short circuit.

As to changes to the insulation material, nothing permanent will occur. Whatever changes occur during “break-in” will be reversed when the cable is not in use. The insulator is a dielectric, thus it can be polarized. Any polarization due to “break-in” will be reversed when an alternating current flows through the wires and disturbs the electric field many thousand times per second.

Conclusion: Break-in is a flawed concept as copper wire does not change its characteristic significantly under normal audiophile usage.

https://www.waldonell.com/static/documents/Science%20Behind%20Speaker%20Wires.pdf#section.2.4

2 Likes

As audio is AC, ranging from 20Hz to 20KHz, and there should be no DC on the cable, breaking by playing music through the cable won’t be due to polarisation.

Yes that part of the text is related to a manufacturer’s (Nordost) claim about burn-in causing directionality in cables.

[Nordost] When cables are manufactured they do not have any directionality. However, as they break in, they acquire directionality. Although the cable signal is an alternating current, small impurities in the conductor act as diodes allowing signal flow to be better in one direction over time. This effect is also called quantum tunneling, which has been observed in experiments over 25 years ago. Regardless of the purity of the metal used, there are still diode effects in all conductors. In addition, the insulation material will change when it is subjected to an electrical field.

The author concludes this is nonsense:

Either a cable is manufactured with directionality, or it does not. It cannot be both. This is a good sign of snake-oil.

Not much to be found on the internet about the author… is it just the written opinion of another person?!? Would I trust their opinion over someone else’s or just trust my own ears when testing gear?

During burn in invisible, but sexy and imaginary fairies 🧚‍♀️ Move their hands up and down along the cable making it more supable. This is what makes it sound better. Ideally you want cable that was under fairy care for atleast 584747 years. This is very easily achieved because of time delation. Just put the cable on fairy operated space ship and send it to Proxima B and back.

4 Likes

Think I managed to get some pictures of those fairies last night! (No, wasn’t drinking :slight_smile: )

1 Like

I have never really understood the whole cable or equipment burn-in thing, if you liked the ‘burnt in’ system that you auditioned in a demo and then bought new, if it sounds as you expected when you get it home then all is well, but if it doesn’t quite hit the mark, if burn in is a thing then with use and after the passage of time it should work just like it did in the demo, why worry about it?

2 Likes

…and that’s a good solution. As long as you audition a burnt in item, it does not matter whether you believe in the phenomenon or not.

Who said I was worried about it? :smiley:

Just curiosity.

Mist probably sone herbal tea ot mushrooms meal is the best for this kind of experience. :joy::blush::innocent:

Personally if i home Demo Amps /cables / speakers etc. used or demo and i like it enough to put money down that item will never find its way back to the Dealer No Matter What!
Have you heard of sample variation?
Also if you are Paranoid like me you all ways end thinking is it really as good as the demo one
this just spoils the purchase experience keep the Original and happiness is assured.
Regarding burn in Amps Cables whatever this is accepted and there is Technical information
to support it ( research it else where if you must ) the only question is the duration be aware
most quotes for this vary from excessive to down right ridiculous.

1 Like

Hi Graham, I posted some thing on your subject but forgot to reference it to you.

I agree… often been the case for me but, sometimes the physical condition of a unit or cable may not be great if it has been in use for a long time. That’s when I’d ask for new. Often, a little extra discount can be available as well if you take the demo version!

I have no interest in responding to this topic except regarding Manufactures statements.

  1. Cables sound directional immediately after manufacture. Every New cable i have purchased has had this characteristic. This is thought to be because as the copper wire
    is drawn through the Die the molecular structure lines up in a certain way. So the signal
    can either be with or against this flow.
  2. The Diode Effect is also known as Crystal Boundaries hence the promotion of Long Crystal Cable, some claim crystals up to one meter in length!
    In my personal experience LCC does in no way sound better, to me it sounds mellow
    and indistinct i regard it as unusable - against the science i know but i first observed
    this in the 1990s and it has held true regardless of the source of the product.
  3. The Dieletric ( Insulation ) material on any component does alter the electrical
    character during burn in and most times this will be audible.
1 Like