Beware of the cable claiming long burn in period.

@prof - "Maybe you can tell me what is happening inside during the 300 hours?" Here’s one possibility, for you to ignore, again: Regarding burn-in time for cables: I’ve always held(yeah: my opinion) that part of it was attributable to the fact that cables are capacitors(actually, an LC circuit, to a degree) and their dielectric’s dipoles need time to align themselves, with relation to whatever voltages/signals they’re going to be dealing, before they sound their best. The better the dielectric(ie: Teflon, Polypropylene, etc) the lower the dielectric absorption, but- the longer the process takes. I suppose, moving cables around, might scramble one’s dipoles, as well. Perhaps that’s why some mention having to re-burn-in their cables, after handling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dielectric_absorption Perhaps you can tell me, WHY that can’t be a cause(or, "plausible"), SCIENTIFICALLY?

I think, generally speaking, 300 hours of burn-in is the starting point to begin evaluating cables. Most improve further after that, including power cords. Patience is audiophile's virtue. I pay zero attention to how they sound until about 250 hours.

@rodman99999

Interesting conjecture.

But, first, it seems to start by assuming the *audible* phenomenon claimed about such cables is valid, when that is in dispute.

Second, anyone can conjecture, even from already established science - that is after all what scientists tend to do.  It's the next step that is important and missing in most cable claims:  testing.   How would you determine that the aligning process you suggest occurs...and is responsible for AUDIBLE changes in cables?


Wouldn't it make sense that if your conjecture is sound, that measurements would show changes over time - given you are appealing to measurable phenomena in the first place?

And, since it's a fact we can often measure things we can not perceive, if you DID find measurable differences, wouldn't you agree we would need a way of determining if the differences are audible?  And if you agree there, why would it make sense to ignore all the data we have about how sighted listener bias can influence results?

Burn-in time typically refers to actual in-use time in a system. One can set up an audio IC or digital IC cable for continuous in-use time on a CD player or Transport-DAC combination. We’re talking about less than one week of continuous in-use time, which falls easily within most manufacturers’ allowed return policy (30 days, 720 hours). 

+1