Love getting new equipment, hate the break-in

@boxcarman Oh dear! 

I'm actually a MINT scientist. Have published in peer reviewed journals using statistics, like breakpoint regressions, Discriminant Function Analysis, various flavors of (M)AN(C)OVA etc. Got my first editorial appointment fresh out of grad school because, as a reviewer, I found a fundamental statistics problem in a ms, based on a dissertation passed by a fully accredited US university [used PCA instead of DFA to show differences between groups, btw. And if you don't immediately see the problem, you know doodly-squat about statistics. But that was clear from the outset anyway.].

No, I don't need YouTube re statistics. Thanks for asking.

@roadcykler 

They DON’T always sound better -- what an idiotic suggestion!  They simply reach a point where the sound stabilizes. 

In fact, I just dropped off a DAC I’m returning at UPS this afternoon because, once the presentation stabilized, I didn’t like it. FYI, it yo-yo’d back and forth between between dull and bright several times before finally settling in. I’ve found the length of burn-in and degree of change with different pieces of gear can vary significantly.  

If you don’t hear it, fine. One less consideration for you. Just know that your contemptuous attitude is unlikely to convince many that you are somehow superior. 

Another benefit for me in using ss gear, is the "always broken in", as I leave my gear on / music playing, 24/7, unless I am away. 

@oberoniaomnia...... Perhaps I was a little hasty there.  Yes, there may be no stats to back this up, but it definately is something I hear.  Makes you wonder if the new product is actually an upgrade.  And then one day it's broken in and everything is all right again.  

@oberoniaomnia +1/-1 on this one: "I challenge anybody to do a blind A-B test with a burnt-in component vs out of the box”.

The biggest problem is a manufacturing variations, including all components and fully assembled units. ALL products are not equal at any measurable or listened performance metrics, at the end of production line, aging also hits devices differently, due to many factors, temperature/humidity etc. 

Any time I read about device A compared to device B, the key question is, what is the condition of DUTs (device under test, maintenance, calibration, etc)?