Most Beneficial Cable Upgrade

(to twist this thread sideways): yeah, that 'strain to hear a change' is why I dispise the claims of 'break in'. Yeah break in occurs. It just should not be listening to crap for 300 hours or so. I am 100% if it does not sound good straight up, forget it. The improvement with break in should only be like icing on a cake, and not like some marvelous change from crap to wonderful.
I would NEVER put up with the bad sound some folks say stuff has when new. My rant is that the process may just as well be getting used to the bad and hypnotizing oneself into accepting it.
I usually therefor make an opinion immediately on hearing something, and then see if it changes over a (relatively) short time.
(I did break my own rule about the 7 meter Hero balancedcable i use now. At first it was bad. But I trusted i could return it if it did not improve in a few days.. it did. so much for my sticking to my guns..hey)
Anyway, enough off topic!

Hi Elizabeth,
You just touched on another major controversial topic in our great hobby. 'Break in'. Breakin of cable, amps, pre-amps, CD palyers, etc., is it real, placebo, or is it a miyth? My Esoteric K01 sounded great, brand nes, cold, right out of the box. I have been told that the K01 will benefit form 500 hours of break-in. I have been using the IsoTek/Esoteric break-in disc for 4 weeks. I have used the Purist audio break-in disc for many years off and on. Does it make a difference? In all honesty I am not sure that I can detect a difference. As a rule of thumb, when I say that I am uncertain if it makes a difference, it is minimally consequential and possibly unconsequential. If it helps it is extremely subtle and gradual. Is it placebo or is it real? I am uncertain. I feel warm up for 30 to 60 minutes helps a lot, especially with amps/pre-amps (I have a lot of Krell equipment), I am not sure if break-in (500 hours)truly improves sound significantly (to my ears therefore it is inconsequential). I know Isotek, Purist audio, Esoteric, many other companies and many reviewers feel break-in makes a significant improvement. Although I have tried very hard to understand and detect a difference with extended break-in, in all honesty, don't know if I can detect an improvement. This issue is a controversial, subjective and very difficult to prove. It would be an interesting thread topic. Personally, I don;t worry about it. I do use break-in discs but I am uncertain if they help to improve sound significanbtly.

P.S. Elizabeth,
I agree with you, if it doen't sound to your liking right away (or within a few hours), it will never sound good; get rid of it.

some very well made arguments here. i once went 100 mph in a vega automobile and later went 100 in a porsche. psychologiclly the vega ride scared the hell out of me and the porsche seemed like i was going 42mph. maybe my analogy isn,t perfect but better stuff seems to just work better. ha

last week i took my morrow sp3s out and put my kimber 8tcs in. for the next 2-3 hours it was pretty rough to say the least. i let the system play all night and the next day it was nice and smooth and musical. so for those keeping score,,,ha!!! the murrows sound great too btw.
1. i am certain i can hear a difference between cables
2. i have experienced sound getting better when they "settle in".
3. i too have experienced placeabo effect and other psychoacoustic phemonena
4. my stereo sounds better when i am in a good relaxed mood.
5. my stereo sounds better at 3am.
this may turn into one of those long threads. peace