cable burn-in / system burn-in

Louis,

Yes that is correct. At high frequencies things like capacitance and dielectric can have a more pronounced effect and a drift can be expected as equipment ages and settles in. However audio is NOT high frequency.

Johnhelenjake,

One thing you need to do is maintain perspective here. The changes in cables being discussed are extremely small - much much less than 0.1%. You need to consider that these effects are likely so small as to be inaudible compared to other differences (your head position, the volume level, speaker driver compliance, and your hearing from one session to the next)

I just started my system again after being down for a few months. It has taken about 40hrs of play time before it has started to sound good again. I have a cd that I always play to hear the effect, which I am very familiar with. So it is kind of scientific, and not just arbitrary. So there you have it...

If you listened to music on other systems (radio, car, iPod) then this might be partly acclimatization.

If the room has changed or the position of equipment/istening position has changed then you may be acclimatizing to the new presentation (emphasis is different when equipment position/room changes and this makes your CD sound different even if your gear has not changed - this change can be HUGE and of the order of several percent at specific frequencies and sometimes even much more - changing slightly the timbre of some sounds and instruments and until you get used to this new emphasis and re-adjust your sonic memory then you will notice this)

When trying to detect small effects of less than 0.1 % or much much lower it is actually not "kind of scientific" to trust your judgement and sonic memory of a particular CD. Hearing is good but nothing like as resolving as a measurement made through precision instruments. For example it is extremely difficult to hear the difference between 0.1 % distortion and 1% distortion when listening to music -even though the difference is TEN TIMES.

Another factor that can make a real difference that will be audible is your capacitors in your equipment. If you have had your equipment in storage for many many months then some of the capacitors (depending on the design) may need reforming or may have broken down when you first powered up. This can make a difference that would in certain cases be large enough to be audible. Another factor could be stiffening of the conpliance of your speaker drivers after months of no use.

I am simply saying that you should look at all possibilties before assuming it is related to cable burn in. (Wires are the least likely item in the entire human hearing/room/system equation to cause an audible difference that you attribute to burn in)