Burn In = Voodoo?

If the phenomenon of "burn-in" just means that one is "getting used to the sound", then the opposite should be true also, ie "burn-out". For example, I have a tube pre-amp and after a year or so music gradually became brighter, harder, and more fatiguing. Over a couple of months it got worse and worse, and finally to the point where I just didn't want to listen anymore. But being persistent, I kept looking for a reason for the increasingly terrible music. It finally dawned on me that that I had NEVER changed the tubes in my pre-amp. Duh!! So, I put in a new set of stock Sovtek 6922s and Viola' the music was back, and over the next couple of weeks, it even got better as the tubes burned in. It seems to me that if a person just "gets used to" whatever sound his system is making, then my perception of the music should have just changed to accomodate the gradually changing (worsening) music quality caused by the tubes reaching the end of their useful life. And if this is true, an audiophile should be just as happy with a $799. complete Circuit City system-- after all, he would just get used to whatever the music quality was. No? Cheers. Craig.

J_k, I had to answer my own question. Absolute Zero is the temperature at wich all molecular translational movement in a gas ceases. Now Helium has the lowest critical temparature -268 Degrees celsius, a point where a substance cannot exist in a liquid state, so a tempurature of abolute zero -273 degrees celsius has no physical meaning, just a point of reference on the absolute scale. What all this translates to in degrees fehrenheit is that these temps are much colder than the temp. your freezing cable to. So I'll buy the idea, but the "scientist" in you needs a bit more schooling. (oh yea, this is all subject to change in that my reference material is a bit dated. there were only 103 elements at that time, and from my kids books I believe that has changed, a bunch.)
Anyway, this was bugging me, sorry for taking the space in that I see from this and an earlier post a couple months ago that none of you care! J.D.

There are quite a few things in audio that make a difference despite the fact that thay may not jibe scientific theory or cannot be quantified. Upsampling seems to be the hot new debate along these lines.

Burn in definitely falls into this category for me. As does spontaneous human combustion and the *higher power* of your choice.

Easier to try it and go with whatever seems to make a difference to my ears (and lots of stuff over the years -- Micromat Blue CD platter mat, CD Greenbacks, green ink, CD "rubber bands", glossing, etc.) -- have not made palpable changes. Burn in has been an easy one with several ss components.

Jim's post is FAR too sensible to be listed in this forum : ) Most of the stuff that he listed ( CD "stabilizing rings", markering the edges, etc...) all DETRACT from disc readability. The only thing that i've found to make a noticeable improvement to CD's is the Audio Desk Systeme "Disc Cutter". If i didn't hear the difference, i surely wouldn't have spent several hundred dollars on it. As to comments about "burn in" of electronics, that is measurable and called "settling" of the components. Capacitors need to "form" and this is a gradual process. If they are not used for a long time, the process starts all over. This "might" be true of wires and their dielectric materials also, but i don't know for sure. Most of what i've read about "wires" is that there is a crystal structure that is damaged or "stressed" when it is disturbed via movement or bending. Since i just picked up a "Mobie" cable burner ( already had a Duo-Tech ), i will be checking into this in the very near future. Several folks that i know and trust INSIST that using one of these does make a beneficial difference to the performance of cables. Either way, i'll soon find out if "I" notice the difference that it makes. Sean
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Jeeez guys, let's take it easy. A cable conducts suitably or does not. Period. According to the French power corp, differences in sound are due to losses along the length of the conductor. Losses ARE affected by micro-movement (=vibration), i.e., in audio, the losses appear on variable points across the spectrum. This includes components (that are also conductors, right?). Hence, spikes, et alia. But don't set yr house on fire trying to burn-in cables... just hook them up and wait a bit while the system gets rolling...