Cable Break In for the Naysayers


I still cannot believe that in this stage of Audio history there are still many who claim cable break in is imagined. They even go so far as claim it is our ears that break in to the new sound. Providing many studies in the way of scientific testing. Sigh...

I noticed such a recent discussion on the What’s Best Forum. So here is my response.

______________________________________________________________________________________________ I just experienced cable break in again firsthand. 10 Days ago, I bought a new set of the AudioQuest Thunderbird XLR 2M interconnects.

First impression, they sounded good, but then after about 30 hours of usage the music started sounding very closed in and with limited high frequencies. This continued until about 130 hours of music play time.

Then at this time, the cables started to open up and began to sound better and better each passing hour. I knew at the beginning they would come around because they sounded ok at first until the break in process started. But now they have way surpassed that original sound.

Now the soundstage has become huge with fantastic frequency extensions. Very pleased with the results. Scientifically I guess we can’t prove cable break in is real, but with good equipment, good ears, it is clearly a real event.

ozzy

ozzy

I guess that would also apply to the beauty of a sunrise or a painting. Or the holding of a loved one...

ozzy

@ozzy 

You're free to interpret my words any way you want, but you can't put something in my mouth that I didn't say.

kevemaher,

Actually, your quote of me as you stated is incorrect. I believe the opposite is true.

ozzy

@kevemaher I was going to share this link with you as a technical exploration of possible cable effects.

https://sites.google.com/view/kunchur/audio-acoustics?authuser=0

But I believe you were discussing the author in another thread, so maybe you’ve already seen it?

Also, if you are looking for some non-refereed technology articles on how one cable company approaches different challenges, I suggest you look here:

https://shunyata.com/technical-articles/

These are essentially sales materials, but interesting to me at least.

kn