"Burn in" Are you serious?

I wasn't aware that your experience has been a refudation of burn-in. On the other hand, we could take a symetrical argument and explain your perception. Perhaps your aural memory is such that the gradual changees introduced in the burn in period escape its notice. Perhaps your perception changs along with the piece. I've made up my mind that I want to do a double blind on this (knowing in advance the arguments against that methodology). I was wondering if you have? In regards to: I could easily be converted by converted by evidence more substantive than anecdotal; I think it's important to remember that science begins with the observation, the anecdotal evidence. Reality (if such a thing exists) determines the collection of imperfect models that we call science, not vice-versa. But then again I suppose mathmaticians are always a little skeptical of something so temporary as physics (grin).

Disclosure: being new to this hobby, I don't have a lot of experience either way with this. My dealer told me to burn my stereo in and not to listen too critically at first, and I followed his advise. As a result, I have no idea whether or not my system 'burned in'. Furthermore, I hope no one construes my last post to mean that I disavow science. I am much more likely to believe an explanation grounded in science than one based in faith (especially if that faith is based on frail human perception).

Waldhorner - what are you, some sort of objectivist :)? Having never done a controlled test to see if I could hear the effects of burn-in, I cannot comment on the objective nature (but since I have occasion to buy new interconnects soon, perhaps I'll post a follow-up then). I will say that subjective evidence does seem to point to an (almost) universal acceptance of a change in perception which is undergone in the first few weeks of owning equipment. I will offer to you the idea that decoding the musical text is inherently a subjective experience and so even purely subjective factors are 'real'. If it is indeed the listener being 'burned in' and not the equpment, does it matter? Separately, I would note that structural properties of various materials (notably metal) do change as you apply electrical current through the material, but I concede that it's difficult (for me) to believe that these most changes would not be heard within a few minutes of applying current.