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Component Break In. Truth or Fantasy

I just recently got a second pair of planar headphones and the manual suggests a break in period of 150 hours. I find the topic of component break interesting in that, like so many things today, opinions are polarized with some audiophiles claiming break in having significant effects while other maintaining it is all BS and it's just you getting used to the new sound of your component.

My experiences has been that break in has a significant effect on components that convert one form of energy into another, and that have a mechanical aspect to them.

It makes sense that new speakers, as a result of excursions when being played, will loosen up and that will affect the sound. Same goes for phono cartridge suspensions. It's not unlike our own bodies where stiffness reduces and movement range extends when we work out, move, or stretch.

However, I have not found significant break in effects with all electronic components like DACs and Solid State Amps. And as for cables, not at all.

What has been your experience?

alvinnir2
stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,714 posts
 

Just plug the phones in at night and let them play, you don’t need to be listening.  The louder you play them, the better the break in as it will loosen the diaphragms quicker.  Stick a pillow between the phones so you won’t hear it. 

grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,696 posts
 

Break-in is one of the most real phenomenons one will ever run into in life. This is so completely settled that to question it seems quite odd to me.   Just my opinion based on 45 years of this passion and building all manner of cables and gear.  However, not all people will notice it or even care to notice. We are all unique it seems 😊!

wolf_garcia
6,891 posts
 

I recently bought a pair of speakers that had a recommended break-in period of 200 hours, although at 197 hours they sounded pretty damn good...they also sounded pretty damn good before any break-in, so there's that. I then (last week) added (again, recommended by mfgr.) a fancy capacitor to the crossover that also claims to need 200 hours although a consensus among cognoscenti claims 100 ought to do it. Note that if you prefer the sound of the non broken-in component you are bound to dwell in a netherworld of certain uncertainty. Also worth noting are break-in time recommendations exceeding initial warranty/return policies...Morrow cables claim to require 400 hours. 

curiousjim's avatar
curiousjim
5,954 posts
 

Truth for me. Especially with speakers.

bigtwin's avatar
bigtwin
1,625 posts
 

So way back around 1977, I was a young man living in a mobile home with three other guys, up in Northern Alberta.  I didn't have a stereo and I didn't have any money to buy one.  But I had a used cassette deck from someone's car, and a couple of very cheap 6 inch speakers.  Again, out of a car door.  Just for a lark, I mounted those speakers in a couple of 8 cube cardboard boxes (that's 24" x 24" x 24" for those who have never moved a house).  Used basic lamp cord as speaker wire.  Not surprisingly, the sound was not very good.  But here's the thing.  After a couple of weeks, we were so accustomed to the sound, we all thought the "system" actually sounded pretty damn good.  So did the lamp cord "burn in"?  Did the speakers "open up"?  Did the cardboard boxes go through a molecular transformation?  Or did our brains simply become accustomed to the sound that was now perceived as being more than adequate.  This is absolutely a 100% true story, and IMHO, speaks volumes on the subject of equipment break-in.

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