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I disagree with Geoff on ’all require long burn in time’ Some cables do sound decent or OK right out of the box, and some sound OK withing a few hours of play. However I do agree even those may/do get better after a long period of use.
So for cables which just sound terrible right off. I would say give them at least 24 hours and a good percentage of initially bad sounding cables will get a lot better after 24 hours of use. Sadly some do not.
For myself I would NOT keep a cable that take weeks to sound any good. First off if it is not used a lot, (later on) it will revert back to sucking. So IMO why bother to keep it around??
One cable in particular that sucks out of the box is Kimber Hero. When I bought a 7 meter XLR and plugged it in, it was terrible .etched and grainy and shrill. My immediate feeling as to take it out and return it. However I gave it a day.. and by day two (left on 24/7 but not playing music) it was much better. and was good enough to not return. That cable over the years I used it just was better and better (though when I replaced it with a Kimber KS1116 which cost 4 times the price of the Hero, it was immediately obvious the Hero have been a lot more veiled ..Plus the KS1116 was great from the moment it was plugged in. ((The seven meter KS1116 was drop shipped from Kimber, directly and may have been broken in by them prior to sending it? I have no idea yes or no)) (also prior to the Hero, I had used Kimber PBJ for the 7 meter run, and back then, I never noticed any change but I was not looking for any, also it eas the fist time I arranged the large gap from preamp to amp... so no basis to compare the sound.)
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To respond to prof.. It may be just a discussion, and not a 'tear jerking hold my hand I am suffering a crisis' discussion. Someone may have an opinion on the topic AND not be bothered much by the problem. Just one of the little things they may have noted in passing.
For what reason prof needed to insult the discussion? I do not know.
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It is true Teflon in particular needs a longer burn in time that other insulation materials. There may be some other materials which also need exceptionally long periods..
Another problem may be the strength of the signal... A phono cartridge is a tiny signal. and could take near forever to break in a cable! (One place to make sure you have a cable which sounds good right out of the box IMO)
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I agree he does not have to prove anything TO YOU. Clearly no amount of blabber is going to change anyone's mind on anything about cables. All it can be is a pissing contest, generally into the wind... And then the contestants wonder why they end up smelling bad? Some of it is kind of fun.. mainly to clarify one's own position. But to think it makes any difference? you are plain deluding yourself.Though for the popcorn crowd I am sure it makes for entertainment.
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Wow. I did not realize the problem of a late return with him was such a bad experience. Folks definitely should be made aware of the problem. When I have a cable I did not like, the dealer was adamant I should give it more time.. but I returned it within the time frame. (problem was I had to use the money as a credit.. And bought junk I really did not need., but not a big deal.. I should have jumped and bought the cable I was too cheap to go for at the time. Took me two years to get up the guts to just buy what I really wanted. Kimber KS1116 7m for $3200.) The Kimber KS1116, for me anyway, is the cable for life...
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"life is short".. Well I am old.. Plus I have used the same cables for 20 years in the past. So I have no difficulty seeing the seven meter Kimber KS1116 as the last one for that particular seven meter spot.Some folks do not swap cables every year. Or even five years or ten.
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Thank you inna. That is the Classic Audiophile Mantra: ""SPEND MONEY"". Made me laugh.
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Geoff, aren't YOU the guy who told me go buy a $2300 powercord?
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If you keep your eyes shut tight, I am certain you will not see anything.. either. But I do agree if you are not looking, you probably will not notice. What it seems tobor007 is trying to write is if folks in general did not expect changes, they would not notice them?? So stop looking and you will not find. (interesting advice)
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I am the poster with a 7 meter Kimber PBJ,, (back around ?? 1990?) It was the first cable I used at all in such a long run. The main reason I did not hear 'any differences' is I had never had that setup before anyway, so nothing to compare, except to a short run where all the equipment was next to the speakers. (also PBJ IC) So in particular, I would say in hindsight, Kimber PBJ sounds the same whether a short run, or a long run.
One cable that proved to NOT be the case was Cardas Parsec. Where a short Parsec XLR sounds great. but a long 7m run sounded thin and basically sucked. (I returned the 7m, and still use the 1 meter Parsec) I went for Kimber KS1116 mainy because it has triple wires, six instead of the 2 in the KS1111. better for a long run IMO. And yeah is turned out to be just right for that application.
Getting back to tobot007... I can see the idea... but it just is not gonna work out for most audiophiles. Maybe for a person who wants 'plug and play', easy to ignore any differences, say when they have to buy a new turntable cartridge. Since they don't care.
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IT is pretty much the insulation that is doing the breaking in.... Not so much the metal conductors..
Though my fantasy is the electrons in there have to be moved along.. The old ones are just tired (all that smelting and drawing the wire through dies would make any electron tired!).. new ones will be more interested in the music. Yup.
Oh ohh.. Have to add the second comment is a JOKE SON! A JOKE I SAY... per Foghorn Leghorn. for all those lacking any possible sense of humor. (87.31% of all audiophiles)
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Sadly Geoff, sometimes, a few of us actually stop changing anything. For months!!! Even years!!!! Seems impossible, but true.
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To get back to "listening for 500 hours'.. well YEAH, if you plug in the cable and press play... I would think playing them to break them in is 'listening to the for 500 hours of break in'. For my recent experience the worst was the near endless break in of the pile of Furutech AC duplex GTX-D NCF Rhodium. The up and down ride for months.. (partially/completely? due to my buying a few then more then more over two months.) was annoying, gratifying and then back to annoying. So I can sympathize with folks stuck with Morrow! If I had any advice about Furutech Rhodium GTX-D NCF??? Buy them COOKED!
I am glad it is over.. NO more breaking in anything for me.. for awhile..
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Not true. At least two.. How long have you (Geoff) been using the no wires no cords audio system you now are using? fifteen minutes? Two hours? Do you swap out?? what?
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