Chord cables

[Alley_Cat]

Do they need time to ‘run in’?

[JimDog]

Do they need time to ‘run in’?

If you buy, say, Chord Epic Speaker Cables from Futureshop, they offer 0-96 hours burn-in on a special ‘burning in machine’ for free! Yippee! (unless you like ‘burning in’ your own!)

[Alley_Cat]

I picked up a Shawline analogue interconnect, and initial feeling was that it seemed less detailed and much thinner (sonically) than an old Chord cable I bought donkey’s years ago. Maybe I should have gone for the Epic or higher. Just wondering really how much burn in time is needed.

Also I got phono to phono but maybe should have gone phono to DIN instead for better performance.

[TheKevster]

@Alley_Cat - When I bought a couple of Shawline interconnects they needed about 50 or 60 hours to really come alive.

[Alley_Cat]

@Alley_Cat - When I bought a couple of Shawline interconnects they needed about 50 or 60 hours to really come alive.

Thanks - I’ll play some stuff continuously for the next couple of days - Roon radio may be handy for this!

[JimDog]

I picked up a Shawline analogue interconnect, and initial feeling was that it seemed less detailed and much thinner (sonically) than an old Chord cable I bought donkey’s years ago. Maybe I should have gone for the Epic or higher. Just wondering really how much burn in time is needed.

FWIW, I bought a brand new third party (not Chord) analogue interconnect recently and despite 2 weeks of playing Naim Radio on volume 1 most nights and some days, plus normal usage, it just never got any better and had to go back.

[Alley_Cat]

Thanks JimDog - will give it a few days and see, but initial impressions can be telling.

[Polarbear]

Do they need time to ‘run in’?

Just keep playing and ignore any hi-fi terms like “burn in”, just enjoy the music.

Anything else is just a distraction.

[Alley_Cat]

Do they need time to ‘run in’?

Just keep playing and ignore any hi-fi terms like “burn in”, just enjoy the music.

Anything else is just a distraction.

I agree, but if they’re no better than what I have already I’m happy to spend more if there’s a tangible improvement.

I have to ask why Naim don’t perhaps have a little room at shows demonstrating the difference powerline/powerline lite and varying grades of Naim interconnect make to a given system. This could be a bit of a cash cow at a show surely?

[Polarbear]

Do they need time to ‘run in’?

Just keep playing and ignore any hi-fi terms like “burn in”, just enjoy the music.

Anything else is just a distraction.

I agree, but if they’re no better than what I have already I’m happy to spend more if there’s a tangible improvement.

There is always an improvement to be had, the question is, how much do you want to spend and would you be better off upgrading black boxes first?

[Polarbear]

Do they need time to ‘run in’?

Just keep playing and ignore any hi-fi terms like “burn in”, just enjoy the music.

Anything else is just a distraction.

I have to ask why Naim don’t perhaps have a little room at shows demonstrating the difference powerline/powerline lite and varying grades of Naim interconnect make to a given system. This could be a bit of a cash cow at a show surely?

I doubt its worth their while. I can’t see them selling much at shows and their philosophy is that sales should go to their dealers.

[Alley_Cat]

Do they need time to ‘run in’?

Just keep playing and ignore any hi-fi terms like “burn in”, just enjoy the music.

Anything else is just a distraction.

I have to ask why Naim don’t perhaps have a little room at shows demonstrating the difference powerline/powerline lite and varying grades of Naim interconnect make to a given system. This could be a bit of a cash cow at a show surely?

I doubt its worth their while. I can’t see them selling much at shows and their philosophy is that sales should go to their dealers.

I’m not so sure Polarbear - I went to the show yesterday potentially (and secondarily) with a view to purchase lightweight upgrades I could easily carry home. I really (primarily) went to listen to speakers but ended up getting a modest cable and a turntable mat as I could buy them on the spot.

[JimDog]

But if anything else is a distraction, why are you hanging around a hifi forum instead of just listening to the music?

[Polarbear]

But if anything else is a distraction, why are you hanging around a hifi forum instead of just listening to the music?

You would miss me if I didn’t post

[obsydian]

I have run quite a few Chord cables (power, ethernet and DIN in the past), i found there is not much of a painful burn in like some other products, it’s more of a minor refinement, tightening up.

[JimDog]

it seemed less detailed and much thinner (sonically) than an old Chord cable I bought donkey’s years ago

I’ve been using 2 x 8M Chord Rumour 2 speaker cables for the past 15 years, and they produce a very clear and coherent sound - despite the fact that they are quite thin in diameter.

I wonder whether to get some Chord Odyssey or Epic? There are people who prefer them, but also a few who have been up the range and come right back to Rumour…

[Jonners]

I got into a bit of a debate on a Facebook Linn Forum about cable burn-in. There appears to be no scientific evidence to support it, unlike speakers so I got well and truly hammered! I too had a Shawline on demo and didn’t like it either. I ran it for a couple of weeks before swapping out for a different manufacturer.

[mojo_65]

Hi, I used to think that a little burn-in is usually profitable for most of the hifi devices, may be it’s easier to understand this for cartridges rather than cables but that’s it.
Until, however, I bought a Vertere interconnect cable to use with my turntable to Stageline. From the first seconds it sounded so good that it was obvious it didn’t need burn-in at all. And it did not change afterward.
As to Chord cables I recently tried a Clearway and Shawline interconnect and I firmly preferred the Clearway rather then Shawline. It sounded more musical, signal seemed to flow freely, fluid rather than the self restrained Shawline. And it was ok from the first connection.
Bye
Alessandro

[EazyRyder]

I demoed the shawlines against my old chord chameleon vee3s and IMHO they where no where near as good, even after around 70 hours burn in.

I started a previous thread about my comparisons on the naim forums here–

Chord Shawline Early Disappointment

Received a shiny new pair of Chord Shawline analogue interconnects today to replace my aging chameleon VEE3s. The interconnects are in use between my chord qutest to my naim nait XS2. TBH they have only been run in for a couple of hours. But A/Bing with my old chameleons, and i now its too early to make a real judgement. But the shawlines so far are a little disappointing. The Shawlines sound dull. The overall sound is slightly warmer than the chameleons, but all excitement has been lost. …

I would stick to your older generation chords.
BTW what are your older chord interconnects?

[Alley_Cat]

Hi, I used to think that a little burn-in is usually profitable for most of the hifi devices, may be it’s easier to understand this for cartridges rather than cables but that’s it.
Until, however, I bought a Vertere interconnect cable to use with my turntable to Stageline. From the first seconds it sounded so good that it was obvious it didn’t need burn-in at all. And it did not change afterward.
As to Chord cables I recently tried a Clearway and Shawline interconnect and I firmly preferred the Clearway rather then Shawline. It sounded more musical, signal seemed to flow freely, fluid rather than the self restrained Shawline. And it was ok from the first connection.
Bye
Alessandro

I have a Clearway too so may well be worth an A/B there.

The Shawline does sound good, just not sure if it’s much of an improvement over existing Chord interconnects I have - it also makes things sound a bit too ‘digital’ for me, others may like that.