Equipment Break-in: Fact or Fiction

SOS, I share your sense of shock, only, in my case, it's based on the fact that guys like you can't accept the power of suggestion on the human mind and the simple fact that whatever we get used to becomes our personal benchmark. Since you sell the stuff, I think you should be believed without reservation. I have a question for you, and all others knowledgeable in this audio thing: when does the process of burn-in stop? Does it go on and on and on ad infinitum until the piece of gear is so good we call it "vintage" and never sell it or is there a plateau that is reached, and if so, how long is that plateau? Does the plateau (geez let's call it "stasis" ) last forever or does the component fall off at some point? Or maybe, just maybe, since "everything changes and that's fact, but everything that changes some day comes back" (sorry Bruce) do we have to start over again if the product is left on a shelf unused for a while? I heard from reliable sources that this is the case with cables, slinky little devils! Or maybe the component just becomes better and better until such time as degenerative cap and diode syndrome sets in, at which point the component should be tossed in favour of something newer. Kind of like adopting a cat or dog, you grow with the component, but, ultimately, the end comes... This last possibility has the greatest on the up-side though for the "industry": just imagine a "best before date" to keep your customers coming back! No hard feelings, but as the good Bishop indicated, we will never know will we? Good day.

when you don't believe, then have heard it happening, do you still not believe? I was once skeptical until my own experience taught me that a few hundred hours on a component made a considerable difference - for THAT component. Any other box will not behave exactly the same way; may or may not happen (some do & some don't).

Tireguy - that is really cool. I have wanted to hear a comparison of burned in and new but never could. I liked hearing you thoughts.

There may be another issue here too: one person's huge difference is another's "same song."

Remember the the Audi drivers swore that they were not stepping on the gas but on the brakes and still the car accelerated away! It was later found, through observation, that people will indeed think that they have done one thing but really did another, especially if they will look like fools if they admitted otherwise.
This affect is repeatedly observed in the realm of audiophilia.

BTW, companies `burn-in` components to simply assure that there will not be any failures in the first hours of operation (when most failures occur, before long term failure), not to break-in equipment so that they sound better.

Maybe Im hallucinating. Maybe all amps sound the same anyway. After all, how could two electrical devices with similar specs sound different? Its absurd! This revelation is going to save me a lot of money! Thanks you guys!