[thathertz]

Here is an article from Graham Slee himself on burn-in which goes into
exhaustive detail about the process and the changes occuring.

You will need a pot of tea, some biscuits and a comfy chair

(From the GSP Audio web site : GSPAudio Support Community: Burn-in)

I can't recall reading a more informative or persuasive piece on the sbject of burn-in.

 

[chosborne]

Electronic components "burn-in" definitely exists. For a quick example, certain manufacturers of tube amps will run their amps with tubes for ~20hrs to take care of any drift (which can be a lot with tubes). After the burn in takes place the manufacturer must re-bias the amp because the tubes shifted their operating point by quite a bit (called drift) and thus needed to be re-biased.

Granted this is going to be much less a problem with solid state components. In my experience, giving electronic components time to break in certainly brings them to a point that is more agreeable, linear, predictable, and consistent. This is especially true from loudspeakers of any kind including headphones.

As for the process... Turn everything on the way you would as if you were listening, same volume and so on. Set your source to repeat and randomize. Walk away and come back several hours later. Perhaps up to 24hrs or more even. Whatever you can stand

.

 

[Spareribs]

For my tube amp, I burned it in for about 400 hours for about 2 months or so. I noticed after about 100 hours, the bass was more pronounced. At the 400 hour mark, I did not notice any more improvement but it's probably a slightly cleaner sound. Since my amp has Blackgates caps, I read that it's recommended to be an 800 hour burn in. However, I gave up at the 400 hour mark and just enjoy my amp as it naturally burns in. Lovin it.

 

[op2003]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thathertz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Here is an article from Graham Slee himself on burn-in which goes into exhaustive detail about the process and the changes occuring. You will need a pot of tea, some biscuits and a comfy chair (From the GSP Audio web site : GSPAudio Support Community: Burn-in) I can't recall reading a more informative or persuasive piece on the sbject of burn-in.

Thank you, but i wouldn't call this a scientific approach to explain burn-in though it is in line with the manufactures datasheets. IMO it is a collection of assumptions without proof. Would be nice to see some numbers or other evidence, which underline his explanations.

 

[BIG POPPA]

Who cares if it is scientific? Just a hobby, RIGHT? Just listen to your gear and don't sweat the small stuff. I did burn in my Red Tomahawk 33 days or so to get he 800 hours needed. Each time I recable my Headphones I burn them in. I have recabled my headphones at least a dozen times. About to recable another one in a few days. I do believe in burn in and warming up my gear. You will find your own rituals don't worry

 

[op2003]

Ok, then you would agree, that there is no scientific evidence for burn-in?

 

[BIG POPPA]

DON'T CARE!!!!!

 

[op2003]

Then what are we talking about in this thread?

 

[BIG POPPA]

Never disputed what the thread was all about. Just gave my 2 cents on it

 

[tomb]

What someone rarely mentions - if at all - is that the supposed burn-in for the brain occurs in a relatively short time - a matter of hours, if that long. Anyone who's purchased a new pair of glasses with a different shape, or driven a new car with a different perspective of vision, mirrors, etc. can attest to this. So IMHO, the excuse that burn-in is mental is a huge stretch. Nevertheless, there is quite a lag until the brain catches up - therein lies the fallacy with DB testing.

At the same time, anyone who believes that our measurements fully define the sound quality of an amp that can be heard with human ears - hasn't lived long enough to experience the scope of our technical shortcomings when it comes to modeling human capability and senses. If frequency response, SNR, and distortion fully described an amplifier's sound qualities as heard by an experienced human ear, then we'd all be using CMoy's - end of story.

As for double-blind testing, again - just another example of our shortcomings in attempting to model human response, a Jeopardy game with a game show host is about as useful. There's a noteworthy fellow who uses this construct to his advantage to prove how low the amp quality preferences can result in a DB test.

Anything where heat develops is going to experience some break-in while the molecules re-align themselves with the repeated heating/cooling. This will have an effect on sound quality. Is it measureable and noticeable? That depends on a myriad of factors. I think it's safe to say that a low power CMoy is going to experience much less change (if any) than a high-current MOSFET or high-voltage tube amp. I have a hard time believing it runs into hundreds of hours, but all the same, have experienced the long delay with breaking in Black Gate capacitors (large ones) repeatedly.

Just thought I'd add my 2 cents to this interesting discussion.

 

[fidelio]

just to make sure this is total overkill, meier has a little blurb on his site suggesting 48 hrs. of signal for his amps, w/ more detail on types of music etc.

i guess it's "open to question" as to whether this is real or just audio ritual. also note the fancy cable-fryers some shops have, where one can pay a little extra to purchase cables that have been "professionally burned in." i admit to being a little bit of a doubter when i hear that a piece of equipment requires 600 hours of break-in, just as an example -- that could be a year of regular listening for a busy working person w/ a life outside of the system room. and what's really being seasoned here, after a few days - the ears, the brain, the imagination, cartridge suspensions, or the internal wires?? perhaps it's all just an uncomfortable admixture of the real and the imagined. personally, as i can't prove anything about anything, i'll just say that the audio pursuit does approach the metaphysical for some of us. add a trust fund to that and you have some wild equipment situations.

the good thing is that we can look at the comments and decide whatever and go on about our business, w/ any luck .... meanwhile i vote for playing a lotta music (which of course assists break-in).