I hope break in is true

Amazing how manufacturers figured out how to make components sound better after they break in. It must be true, since no one actually says, I broke my amp in and now it sounds bad, I think I'll take it back. Wait, oops, it's too late, the dealer won't take it back now. Get the picture? In terms of speaker break in, it takes just a few minutes to break the drivers in according to some articles I found. Just do a search on that topic.

I have always noted the difference in speaker break-in (drivers being actual moving parts) and never that much difference in components. I am not going to dispute the fact that many do hear a difference in components break-in as well, I have thought that a few times myself, I am just not sure how much of that is "psycho-acoustic".
I would imagine that someone somewhere would have noticed at least a slight measurable difference with the testing equipment and would have brought that proof forward to once and for all prove that it does exist.

Here is something that bothers me about break-in and no one ever seems to question it:

1. One has to assume that the new equipment will undergo some kind of internal "change" in order for the sound to change. I guess that means that some of the components such as resistors/capacitors/inductors, etc.. will change their value slightly during this break-in period. Otherwise what else would cause this change in sound?

2. If there is a change, why is it always for the better? Is there a magic fairy conductor inside the equipment telling the resistors/caps in which direction their values are to be changed so as to make the sound better?

Found this little article on the web, just something to think about:

Here's a little thought experiment:
1) Audio amplifiers need breaking in.
2) The means that some of the electrical components are changing their characteristics during use.
3) That means that the characteristics of the components are not as good as they could be when the device is manufactured.
4) These components change and the audio gets better.
5) Somehow, these components stop changing when the audio gets great.

Now, here are some questions:
1) Why do the components change?
2) Why do they stop changing?
3) Why do they change in a direction that makes the audio get better?
4) Why don't they change "too far" and make the audio worse after time?
5) Why don't the manufacturers run the amp for 100 hours and then measure the component characteristics, and then build them that way in the first place?

As you can see, this is hokus-pokus non-physics, and is often thoroughly
debunked snake-oil.

Here is something I found quite amuzing:

From the French Audio Magazine on a Bryston amp.

When you get it fresh from the factory, this amp is, for all intents and purposes, unlistenable. It requires at least a two-week break-in period before it shows its real stuff I was able to hear it both before and after its two- to three- week high volume workout: the difference is colossal! Of course my real test was done with a system that was well "broken in" and that was connected to a high-quality source and first-class speakers."

From the 10audio review on Bryston amp:

"If there was a break-in period, it was probably less than 10 hours. I used the amp for background music for a day before attempting any serious listening, and was not aware of a change in the character of the amp afterwards. I’ve remarked in other reviews that almost every component sounds pretty bad for the first 10 hours or so. That observation probably does not apply here due to the extensive run-in every Bryston product receives at the factory before shipment. Don’t you wish that every other maker of high-end electronics would deliver a product that you could actually use as intended upon receipt?"

So what we have here is one guy who finds a "collosal" difference after 3 weeks and another who finds nothing after 10 hours.

The truth is Bryston "burns in" their amps at the factory extensively for over 100 hours in order to make sure they are stable, meet the specs and so they can give you their 20 year warranty!!!