[Speedskater]

Quote:

If you really, really want to know what goes on with a cable when you burn it in, go to www.cardas.com web site and read the extensive technical explanation given by George Cardas, probably one of the most respected and knowledgeable people in the industry!

Would that industry be the "Snake Oil Industry" ???

 

[Speedskater]

When I think of the  "most respected and knowledgeable people in the Audio industry" I think of people like:
 
Floyd E. Toole
Siegfried Linkwitz
Bruno Putzeys
 
do we need to go on?

 

 

[Hi-Five]

Honestly this subject has been beaten to death all over this site, BUT....I would still love to see a single shred of measurable evidence that any aspect of the cable's function changes significantly with use.  Capacitance, induction, resistance, anything!
 
Hey, I admit it is easy to be lured in by the cable claims.  Aside from poorly shielded, incorrectly implemented or physically damaged cables I haven't measured or concretely heard much if any difference between decent quality cables before and after extended "burn-in."
 
Mechanical systems are much different.  I could convince myself that headphone/speaker drivers will "bed-in" slightly with use, but a purely electrical component usually only degrades with time to my knowledge.  IMO it's like saying your light bulb gets "smoother" and provides more "detail" after the first 300 hours of use...actually it's just less bright now and your brain is used to the color temperature.
 
BTW, that cable "burner" is awesome!  I might start putting a 9V and a few resistors in a box and start selling them on fleaBay!

 

[Speedskater]

Saying that they a burning-in the cable  is like you are training to run a 26 mile marathon by going for a casual walk around your block. In a lab test the wire part of the cable could withstand 1000 or 2000 Volts before failure.  It could also carry many amps of current before melting.  So this burn-in stuff is not much more demanding than leaving it in the shipping carton.

 

[Strangelove424]

What physically changes during burn in? Your return policy evaporates. 

 

[terente0081]

Sorry to bump such an old thread. If there is indeed such thing as cable burn in, in which time something physically changes within the cables' structure shouldn't there be people complaining that they liked the sound of the cable more before burn in? I never heard such scenario which makes me believe it's more like one "learns" and "gets accustomed to" the sound of the new cable the first 100 hours or so, which in their minds equates to a new, improved sound.
 
I am sure that any differences in how a cable conducts electrons can be measured. Impedance, frequency response, delay, jitter could be measured on a new cable then measured again after burn in. If something changed shouldn't it be observable?

 

[arnyk]

  Sorry to bump such an old thread. If there is indeed such thing as cable burn in, in which time something physically changes within the cables' structure shouldn't there be people complaining that they liked the sound of the cable more before burn in? I never heard such scenario which makes me believe it's more like one "learns" and "gets accustomed to" the sound of the new cable the first 100 hours or so, which in their minds equates to a new, improved sound.
 
I am sure that any differences in how a cable conducts electrons can be measured. Impedance, frequency response, delay, jitter could be measured on a new cable then measured again after burn in. If something changed shouldn't it be observable?

 
Cable burn in is largely a psychological effect.

 

[StanD]

  Sorry to bump such an old thread. If there is indeed such thing as cable burn in, in which time something physically changes within the cables' structure shouldn't there be people complaining that they liked the sound of the cable more before burn in? I never heard such scenario which makes me believe it's more like one "learns" and "gets accustomed to" the sound of the new cable the first 100 hours or so, which in their minds equates to a new, improved sound.
 
I am sure that any differences in how a cable conducts electrons can be measured. Impedance, frequency response, delay, jitter could be measured on a new cable then measured again after burn in. If something changed shouldn't it be observable?

Jitter and delay, please lets not introduce some new topics of fantasy for the believers to start up with.

 

[Steve Eddy]

I am sure that any differences in how a cable conducts electrons can be measured. Impedance, frequency response, delay, jitter could be measured on a new cable then measured again after burn in. If something changed shouldn't it be observable?

Yes.

And it hasn't.

So the defenders of burn in fall back on the "we don't know everything/you must be measuring the wrong things" canards.

It's all about blind religious faith. Nothing will sway them from those beliefs. They will only entertain thoughts that reinforce those beliefs, and ignore or deny all evidence to the contrary.

se