Cable Burn In

@n80,
Not trying to be disrespectful but this is all you need. Jmho, anything more than cheap RCA ics would be a waste of money for you. Spend your money elsewhere.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Steren-3-ft-2-RCA-Plug-to-2-RCA-Plug-Audio-Patch-Cord-ST-255-121/2053166...
These ICS use cheap PVC insulation. Burn in, settle in, break in, what ever you want to call it is not required. They will sound the same new right out of the package or hours later to your ears.

Best regards,
Jim

I'm wasn't implying that different cable may or may not sound better or different in a hi-rez system, although in a pure sense, properly designed and built for the application, they should do nothing at all to the sound except get it from A to B. If you can reliably and repeatedly hear a difference, better or worse, go with what sounds better to you in your system.

 As both an audiophile and a career tech I am sometimes at odds with myself over WHY this or that sounds better, worse or simply different, when technically I can't explain why there should be any difference.  Electrically and mechanically gear does "settle in" after use, that I buy, speaker cones, amps, what have you, but WIRE?? Maybe it does and I just can't hear it. I've never had the funds to buy multiple expensive cable sets  and play with them. 

As for high end MIL gear, if different wires made it "better", trust me, Uncle would be only too happy to buy it with your tax dollars. Much of the gear I worked on in my career costs more than my house and cars together. Purely from a technical standpoint, wire is wire as long as it's applicable to the intended use................Does one "sound" different than another, yes I've heard that myself. I simply can't fathom why a hundred hours of usage should change the way it behaves or sounds..........call me ignorant, I've been called worse :)
 
Our hobby is to a very large extent, subjective, and there in lies the source of many of these debates. In the end, buy what you like and can afford. If it sounds good or better to you, enjoy the music. Wasn't trying to "P" on anybodies corn flakes here, just expressing my personal opinions and professional experience.

If you REALLY want to improve the sound of your system for a fraction of its cost, address your room acoustics. Little room for debate on that one and the audible difference is obvious and significant.

jea48  Thanks, that's exactly what I said.  Monster cable=no burn in noticed.
butch01  Right, it's not a contest.  It's a pleasure to hear music well reproduced.
Room acoustics are 50% of the sound.  I used to use multiple sound panels, room tunes, bass traps.  I have replaced them with Synergistic Research HFTs (32 of them).  They are great for slap echo in a too reverberant room.  

Jim, thank you. I think it is ironic that I started this thread in my ignorance, both of the existence of this phenomenon and the debate surrounding it.

The irony is that for me it makes no difference whatsoever:

1) I already have great cables (from what I've been told and the resale value I see on them.
2) They are all burned in for what that's worth.
3) The cables I bought are to connect a weak link in my system which no cable, burned in or not is, going to improve and which I don't care to do anything about.
4) I'm going to use this set of cables now....and later. If they improve things great, if not great.
5) My system sounds super incredible awesome to me. I feel no room or need for improvement.

So for me, at this moment, the issue is moot and is mostly just a curiosity to me in regard to the passions it engenders.

@n80. You speak about your cables of a recently-acquired, 15-y/o system being “burned in.”  Was the system actively used prior to your acquiring it or was it stored for awhile?