Cable Burn In

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.)
.

Keep your mind opened.

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. 

For a while in the automotive performance world (street, not track) there was the craze for so called grounding kits. This was a large diameter wire to help ground the car's electrical system better than the factory ground(s). For years people spent money on these and made wild performance claims....that you could just feel in the seat of your pants.

I'm not equating this to cable burn-in. jea48 has proposed a very logical method for assessing the phenomenon. It remains very subjective of course and even his method does not control all variables. 

I know I keep beating the same horse, but if this is a real issue, or even a marketable issue, why aren't cable makers selling pre-burnt-in cables....for a premium, of course?