"World's Best Cables" vs Audioquest interconnects


I've heard many great things about "World's Best Cables". At such low price, these alleged giant killers are a no brainer, so I ordered two pairs. When the shipment arrived, I connected one pair from my phono stage to my preamp, and another pair from my preamp to my power amp.

These cables replaced my trusty old Audioquest interconnects.

First listening impressions: extremely lean sound. Details etched in space, almost as if a strong laser beam is outlining them.

Santana I, side 1: almost unlistenable. The highs are piercing, the soundstage is flat, the splash cymbals sound like trash cans. Made my head hurt.

Switching back to my Audioquest cables: my god, what a relief! The sound is back to its good old sound of music. Everything sounds natural again.

Now, the "World's Best Cables" come with the users manual that claims that the cables need to be burned in for 175 hours. Should I give them the benefit of the doubt and suffer 175 hours, or is that just an audio myth about cables burn-in?

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crazybookman

I think most electrical engineers would tell you that there’s no such thing as cables “breaking in” but many would also say there’s no difference between any of them sound wise which we know isn’t true. I think any even decent cable should sound pretty good immediately & then mildly change over a period of time. At least this has been My experience  & if I had to quantify it, maybe I heard a 10% change. This was recently true again with a bi wired set of some Triode Wire Labs speaker wire I put in my system. Very nice product btw for not crazy $. 

This is only semi-related to this topic, but I've compared "World's Best Cables" guitar cables to stock offerings from Mogami and another similar priced brand (house brand for Guitar Center and Musician's Friend) and they don't sound as good. I don't know if it's attachment to connectors, solder, shielding, or something else, but built from the same spec Mogami cable, the Mogami retail cable sounded better than the "World's Best Cable" Mogami cable. I personally won't be purchasing any "World's Best Cables" in the future for any purpose.

 

If cable burn in is real...

Then one of you tell me precisely what changes in the cable to make it burn in.

Don't be a coward and ignore this question. There is no getting around it.

jackhifiguy

49 posts

 

To all, 

Actually read everything I wrote on this discussion without being skeptical.

Use your common sense. Use your brains.

And you will realize that I'm right.

That's funny!!

 

@ditusa 

Best you can do?

Answer the question....

What changes in the cable to make it burn in?