Breaking in power cords

Warren: I too noticed that we agreed on something. It is nto the first time and i'm sure that it won't be the last : )

Cooking an interconnect regardless of how many hours of actual use it has on it will typically improve the performance of the cable in my experience. I say that with some hesitancy as some cables supposedly respond poorly to cooking, but i think that this is more of a problem with the type of cooker used and the length it is used for.

Even after cooking the cable and placing it into the system, i find that a good dose of the Ayre Acoustics disc track 7 placed on repeat for a few days can push things just a bit further. Obviously, one can use the system as desired and just place the disc on repeat when not listening.

If i was doing interconnects, this is the approach that i would use. I have used it many times with excellent results. The difference in before and after is quite noticeable. Sean
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Sean, it's obviously me, but playing a cd player non stop for a few days is ok? I use my Ayre Acoustic track 7, once a week. A few days 24/7?
Also, I heard the same about how some ICs can respond poorly to cooking. They can be overcooked, as well. How does one know the exact duration and strength of the cooking. I would hate for my ICs to be "welldone."

I've always turned with a wince when I've heard the suggestion to run a CDP continuously like that - of course, thinking about my high-end player. Rather than put an expensive player through such a duty cycle, it would seem to me that one would want do this with a cheap unit, second hand, hand-me-down, classified ads for twenty bucks type of player. It's been widely suggested before - for doing this sort of work, some "beater" equipment makes a good tool.

Warren: "overcooking" an IC has more to do with the improper design of the cooker being used, not so much the length of cooking. A simple test would be to cook the cable for a period of time and then pull it and listen. Typical signs of "over-cooking" are a dulling of high frequencies and flatness of presentation. The cable will return to normal, but may do so only after an extended period of normal use. Cables that make use of lower grade and / or higher quantities of dielectrics need to cook longer than cables using very little or very high grade dielectrics.

Mwilson: While you bring up a valid point, my experience is that playing back this disc actually improves the sound of the deck being used too. If you read some of my other posts, you'll see that i've "broken in" many a machine in this manner. In fact, i did this with one machine that was known for breakdowns and it lasted longer than most of the others of the same vintage before developing problems. Sean
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If you have kids and laundry is a never ending thing , a Clothes Dryer. Up to 5000 Watts.