Cable Burn In


I'm new here and new to the audiophile world. I recently acquired what seems to be a really high end system that is about 15 years old. Love it. Starting to head down the audiophile rabbit hole I'm afraid.

But, I have to laugh (quietly) at some of what I'm learning and hearing about high fidelity.

The system has really nice cables throughout but I needed another set of RCA cables. I bit the bullet and bought what seems to be a good pair from World's Best Cables. I'm sure they're not the best you can get and don't look as beefy as the Transparent RCA cables that were also with this system. But, no sense bringing a nice system down to save $10 on a set of RCA cables, I guess.

Anyway, in a big white card on the front of the package there was this note: In big red letters "Attention!". Below that "Please Allow 175 hours of Burn-in Time for optimal performance."

I know I'm showing my ignorance but this struck me as funny. I could just see one audiophile showing off his new $15k system to another audiophile and saying "Well, I know it sounds like crap now but its just that my RCA cables aren't burned-in yet. Just come back in 7.29 days and it will sound awesome."
n80
@geoffkait

Geoff, On the contrary, I am happy and sleep peacefully knowing that the bogeyman doesn’t exist and is not hiding under my bed or causing strange distortions in my hi-fi. I am happy not needing to buy voodoo tweaks or strange pebbles or silly fuses or mats or contact paste or holy blessed interconnects or wooden oryx horn shaped stands or cup shaped trinkets and quantum speaker wires - happy knowing that none of this is in the least bit beneficial or necessary.

I am happier because I can devote my energy, focus and wallet on things that actually make a difference but even more importantly, I can simply enjoy listening to beautiful music without the least concern or worry in the world that I am missing out because some paranormal mumbo jumbo is limiting my setup.
Did not intend to open the nonoise must have been referring to in the first reply. And I have no expertise to say anything about this issue.

I would just re-state that it seems impossible to assess SQ differences that are separated by days. And it would seem that this burn-in process, if it exists, would occur over time and not at once....which would make a significant subjective evaluation even more difficult.

And again, why would a cable maker sell a product that is not ready for the level of quality expected by the high end audiophile? If quality is truly that important the cable should be burned-in before it is sold. No one has mentioned any cable maker doing this. So if the phenomenon is real, and I have no basis on which to deny that it is, then why wouldn't a serious boutique cable maker do the burn-in before sale?

geoffkait, it seems rather one sided to demand both subjective and scientific proof from shadone in regard to minor tweaks which by definition would be....minor.... And in fact, it really isn't logical at all to demand "subjective evidence". That's a bit of an oxymoron, no? And in reality, there does not seem to be any "scientific evidence" in this matter at all. So you are asking for evidence that doesn't exist. 
n80 OP
63 posts 07-24-2018 8:06pm

I believe you. I doubt it is anything I would ever notice and it does sound like a very clever way for a cable company to excuse a bad product. I mean, how do you compare what you are hearing right now vs what you’re hearing 7.29 days later? Just sayin’. But I’m an eternal skeptic.

I mean, how do you compare what you are hearing right now vs what you’re hearing 7.29 days later? Just sayin’. But I’m an eternal skeptic.
You could buy a new second pair of the same cable. Listen to both pairs. A/B each pair in your system to see if both pairs of the cables sound the same to your ears. If you cannot hear any difference between the 2 pairs then put one pair up and do not use that pair of cables. Burn in the other pair for 175 hrs, or what ever.

Pull out the new pair without any hours on them. A/B that pair against the pair that has 175 hours on them.
(If you have a CDP or DAC listen to the burned in pair on your system for at least a week before you preform the A/B listening test. This will condition your ears to the sound of the pair of burned in cables. Play CDs with piano and female vocal. Pretty much any Diana Krall will do. A/B the burned in pair of cables against the new cables without any hours on them.)
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N80 just because people say something is a thing doesn't mean it's a thing LOL. You haven't heard anything yet! There's crazy people that believe that changing out a power cable or a fuse will make a big improvement on the sound!   You have to think about that one… Something that is not even caring the signal, that doesn't even make any measurable difference, somehow has a massive improvement??!
Then there's the one about power cables and fuses being directional! Even though they're all carrying alternating current, which by definition means it flows both ways, somehow there's a right way to orient these things. 

 Be very very careful! There's a lot of total BS in the audio file world that has been created purely to separate you from your money.