[rockpile6]

Please forgive me as I consider myself more of a Mid-Fi guy and not so much an Audiophile. I just purchased some replacement headphone cables and in the written instructions that came with them they make statements like, "With all cables, the longer you play them and the less you move them the better they sound.  All cables need a break-in and warm-up period.".  I'm somewhat new to this hobby but I've worked in the electrical field for a long time and thought that I had a general if not basic understanding of things electrical. This I do not understand.  Please, would someone educate me on what physical properties of a cable change to affect sound. Thanks.

 

[SoulSyde]

Rockpile6, a simple a Google search would yield a plethora of web-based arguments and pseudoscience about this topic.  As your 1st post, it may appear to be a little troll worthy.  That likely isn't your intend, but you have to realize that you're never going to get an answer to your question.  

 

[trinhsman]

I don't understand it, but with quality cables, they do get better with a break in period.  The average that has worked for me is in the 100-200 hour range.  People can rail at me all they want and say I'm nuts.  I don't care.  I know it works and I have heard it for myself.  However, if you are using the basic off the wall junk out there, you won't hear anything.  Do your research.  There are lots of quality cables out there for well under 300.00.  Don't let anyone tell you a 1,000 dollar cable will blow away a well made 300.00 cable.  Once you get to that level, the differences are personal taste in what you hear.  For me these are the ones I like:  Morrow Audio, SoundSilver, Cullen Cable, and Aural Thrills.  I am not endorsing one over the other, but Stewart from SoundSilver recently told me to save my money and NOT buy one of  his cables because he felt what I had was good enough.  Now that is something I find amazing and someone I will trust when they give an opinion.