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Equipment Break-in: Fact or Fiction

Is it just me, or does anyone else believe that all of the manufacturers' and users' claims of break-in times is just an excuse to buy time for a new users' ears to "adjust" to the sound of the new piece. Not the sound of the piece actually changing. These claims of 300+ hours of break-in for something like a CD player or cable seem outrageous.

This also leaves grey area when demo-ing a new piece as to what it will eventually sound like. By the time the break-in period is over, your stuck with it.

I could see allowing electronics to warm up a few minutes when they have been off but I find these seemingly longer and longer required break-in claims ridiculous.
bundy

Showing 1 response by stehno

stehno
1,453 posts
 
In my experience, the sonic characteristics of a burn-in verses a non-burned-in product can be best described as listening to a system immediately after powering the system on, verses listening to a system after warming up for 2, 4, 6, or even 8 hours. I had one amplifier that literally sounded better after 3 days of being powered up. Just like the manufacturer stated.

90 to 95 percent of the sonic signature is already there as soon as you power everything up, but then over the course of the warm-up time period the sound begins to warm up, blossoom, smooth out, and then immerse you into the music just a bit more.

-IMO
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