burn in - how important?


Over the years following Agon forums I have read many postings about burn in and been fairly sceptical, as many items I have bought over the years have changed SQ very little or at all, after years of use. Recently I replaced my Rogue Stereo 90 with a used EAR 534 power amp. Out of the box it looked brand new, all nice and shiny. I plugged it into my also fairly recently acquired Aesthetix preamp and was horrified by the thin sound, little or no soundstage and was relieved I hadn't yet sold the Rogue. Now I knew why it had been up for sale or did I. Maybe I was too lazy to plug in the Rogue again but I left the EAR in place and after about 30 hours I noticed a difference, more depth, wider soundstage, Now after about 100 hours - WOW huge soundstage, both depth and width. great tight bass, shimmering highs. Now I know why Tim De Paravicini was regarded as a genius and sorry for the seller who probably had not given the unit a chance to burn in properly. I decided to biwire it into my ML Vantage speakers and cut out the second Acurus a250 amp which I was using in biamped format. There was hardly any difference, maybe quieter and more detailed overall. Who would have thought an EL 34 based 55wpm channel Class A amp could drive a pair of electrostatic hybrid speakers rated at 4ohms. OK no longer a sceptic about burn in but a firm believer. What has been your experience?

128x128mazian

I've had two experiences.  One of them repeated by other A'goners.

Replacing caps in Focals caused really odd surround sound like effects for about a week until they just magically went away.  The other has to do with Class D amps.  I was using a pair of IcePower amps and turned them off for a weekend.  Came back, they sounded horrible.  Took about 4 days of leaving them on to return. At least 3 other A'goners have confirmed this phenomenon.

When first turned on,and playing a cd, it has an odd tone,, not bad, but, it seems to just be there playing, after 24 hour warm up, there is a difference, even the wife mentioned the sound after 24 hours, she said it sounded softer, and. Pre enjoyable

Absolute believer in burn in but there is also truth to becoming acclimated to a new sound over time. I’ve experienced both. I’ve listened to new items in my system for a day or two then have left the component/speaker to cook for a week or so without listening. It sounded different upon listening a week later. Not all but certainly many have. Those experiences convinced me.

Buy a Furutech NCF outlet and you will have to believe in burn in it’s a bad long schizophrenic ride.

Maybe I was too lazy to plug in the Rogue again but I left the EAR in place and after about 30 hours I noticed a difference, more depth, wider soundstage, Now after about 100 hours - WOW huge soundstage, both depth and width. great tight bass, shimmering highs. Now I know why Tim De Paravicini was regarded as a genius and sorry for the seller who probably had not given the unit a chance to burn in properly.

Excellent learning experience and demonstrating the value of patience . Some high quality audio components need to be given time to evolve and reach their true performance level.  As a result you discovered you  have a wonderful sounding amplifier built by the late and esteemed Tim De Paravicini. Hasty decisions can lead to regrettable actions. Thankfully not in this case.

Charles