Break in blues

Hi jtcf

Here's a rule of thumb (a broadly accurate guide or principle, based on experience or practice rather than theory). Anytime you read someone can not hear breakin (burnin) "run". If someone is not able to hear audio differences in this hobby, they're the last one you should be taking sound advice from.

On this forum, and others, there are folks who come up and write purely for the sake of being noticed or boredom. Fact is, audio is a process that is in a continuum of change. Every second you listen change is happening. Learning to practice and play our systems is where we will find the sound that the "non-doers" will never have.

Don't pay attention to those who say they have been doing this hobby for 40 years, it means zero if they can't hear a simple thing like burnin. If a hobbyist can't hear burnin it means one of two things. One, their system is full of signal blockage (a common problem with HEA systems), and two, they simply can not hear the change. In either case they are not qualified to give advice on something they haven't experienced.

Debating if burnin exist is like asking a vegetarian how a burger taste.

anyway, now I'm hungry

Michael Green

Hi jtcf

Sorry about that! I should have been more clear as to who I was talking about. I was talking to you as the OP but I was referring to those who come up and say changes don't make a difference. Of course all changes including burnin are audible.

Sorry again, I should have separated the two.

mg

The nature of breakin is a continuum. Designers have had the task of soft selling breakin to make it easier on the end user. Saying 40hrs, 400hrs or 400days is really nothing more than a selling point so that the designer (and listener) can have an excuse for why their system sounds the way it does. Truth is, anything that passes a current or is subject to the fundamental forces on this planet continues to mature forever.

When you think about it, it's really cool that our audio systems (including room and environment) are so flexible. I like using the term "mechanical conduit" to describe the parts of everything in our audio chains. As much as HEA has tried to paint the picture of isolation, it really comes down to our systems are moving all the time and that means is in constant change in performance. It's nothing to freak out about in fact, once you get it, the hobby takes an interesting turn for you. It's very much like having a guitar and playing a guitar.

Michael