Dave...mate... take a chill pill, this is a forum for views and opinions within our shared hobby, for instance I wouldn’t dream of picking up spelling mistakes and grammar, it’s generally unimportant and whilst I may disagree with or challenge certain methodologies or doctrines around HiFi, I wouldn’t reduce that to personal insults, so please reign it in a little but do continue to tell us what you think, what you understand and why. Your views have equal value and I’m sure the original poster will evaluate all of the many contributions and come to their own qualified personal judgement.
Of course, I don’t expect mass manufacturers to burn in equipment it was meant as to illustrate the futility of burn in and to cheekily challenge the manufacturers to prove efficacy if they are making such statements.
You purchase a piece as far as possible by listening to it in your own system and even more importantly in your own room. How could one possibly come to conclusions about what to purchase if a piece of gear marketed around its sonic qualities but only after owning it and burning it in for at least 8 hours a day for 6 months, that just makes no sense to me. I see it as customer psyco-accoustic conditioning or expectation bias.
I know that most all the manufacturers who profess to operate a “run-in” period on their products are generally speaker manufactures. B&W, KEF, Klipsch, Yamaha, to name just a few. I understand the premise because of the electro mechanical processes involved.
Conversely hardly any electronics hardware manufacturers operate a “burn-in” policy not even smaller "esoteric” companies; most describe their quality control as “extended testing” or “soak” tests prior to shipping.
In a previous life I was fortunate to work as a Sony Broadcast Manufacturing engineer. We built high end Broadcast equipment, including HD/UHD TV cameras and studio equipment. We carried out extensive functional and quality testing on all products. They were also soak tested prior to shipping, not because they didn’t meet electronic performance to specification but would after a good old soaking or after an extended period of time they would suddenly show their true qualities, it was more a quality culture approach, a doctrine that we all bought into. So many tests were performed during build and final testing we knew the product performed straight out of the box because they are absolutely required to. Sony defined a DOA as the worst sort of crime against the customer.
It’s conspicuous that most HIFI manufactures don’t speak of “Burn-In” they talk about extended testing and or soak tests before shipping. Typically, after a little research, this is how a small sample describe their processes.
Audio Research – Their tube amplifiers often undergo bench testing and stabilization before leaving the factory.
McIntosh – Known for rigorous quality control, operational and performance checks.
Pass Labs – Solid-state amps are typically run for a period to ensure thermal stability and performance consistency.
Luxman – Applies extended QC cycles, especially for Class A amplifiers.
dCS – High-end digital gear often goes through prolonged calibration and testing phases.
Nothing that indicates the mythical “burn-in” just an adherence to specification, tolerances and “measured performance”.
Your comments about my personal regime when using my own gear is a little puzzling. I think you are confusing the brief warm up I perform on my own gear, this is not in anyway connected to “burn in” It is about vaccuum tubes reaching optimum temps and encouraging component life extension.
As you will know, Vacuum Tubes operate at high temperatures. When first powered on, the cathode needs time to heat up and reach its optimal operating temperature. A cold tube can cause uneven electron flow, leading to distortion or unstable bias settings. It’s just good practice because it’s detrimental to keep Vacuum tubes powered up.
Electronics conversely benefit having some continuous power. Components like transistors, op-amps, and voltage regulators perform best at a stable operating temperature.
When powered continuously, bias currents and thermal conditions remain constant, reducing distortion and improving linearity. Electrolytic capacitors in power supplies and signal paths often sound better after they’ve been charged for a while. So, keeping electronics fed maintains dielectric formation and reduces the time needed for “settling” after cold starts.
Put another way, Vacuum tubes don’t benefit from being continually powered, it dramatically reduces their lifespan but gentle systematic start up minimizes this.
Continuous powered states and even standby can lengthen lifespan and provide optimal performance every time you sit and listen. This is also true of other electronic components likes DAC’s and Digital transports clocks PLL circuits etc.
Again, neither of these processes are Burn In its more maintenance and respecting the equipment you’ve saved your pocket money for perhaps a long time to acquire.
So, Dave I make the distinction quite clearly in my opinion and I hope this adds some clarity.
I also respect what others say here even if I don’t necessarily agree with them, it’s the only way a forum like this can thrive.
I wish you and all forum members a happy and trouble free 2026.
