Break In Time Periods

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DaveC113

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Re: Break In Time Periods
« Reply #20 on: 21 Feb 2020, 06:41 pm »
I have about 120 hours now on a new DIY set of ICs using Dave's silver/gold, pure silver, and copper wire.  Using some low mass Pure Sonic copper connectors and Wonder solder.  I've been listening each evening for a couple hours at low volumes.  Not enough to fully take their measure each evening, but enough to get a sense of magnitude of changes over time.

Fresh into the system, there was potential.
After about 20 hours, the sound was tizzy in the highs, but sounded pretty decent everywhere else.
After about 40 hours, the tizzy went away and hasn't come back.  Sound has remained relatively stable since then - no major swings, and I'm not listening loud enough or in dedicated sessions to track subtle changes.  I'm sure it's evolving with time, but all within the same general character. 

So, I would agree with the assessment that I wouldn't put much stock into the sound until it has around 50 hours or so - to burn pathways through the new solder connections and maybe the wire itself.  After that, it's all just part of the hobbyist journey, especially if the damn things "reset" after moving them!  Kind of negates the whole point of a cable cooker if moving them from the cooker into the system means you have to start over with break-in of the dielectric!!  :duh:

IME, if the cable is handled gently it will recover quickly. I think this depends on how it was handled and how much the dielectric moves WRT to the conductor. This explains why sometimes shipping causes the cable to need full burn-in and other times it does not. I also suspect temperature changes can have an effect. So moving the cable gently from burner to system is no big deal, and the cable needs a couple days to settle after using the burner anyways.

I also think burn-in is exponential, with a new cable or component a few hours makes a big difference, then a few days later there's a significant change, then a few weeks, then a few months. Many say 500 hours for teflon insulated cables and I'd agree with that, but most people can't tell much difference after 200 hours. 

paul79

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Re: Break In Time Periods
« Reply #21 on: 21 Feb 2020, 10:10 pm »
Burn in. Such a mysterious topic. Just recently, I bypassed an electrolytic in the feedback loop of my amplifier with a film capacitor. Right of the bat, it sounded really great, and a nice improvement was realized. After about 15 minutes, the sound went strange, and remained that way for a couple days. About 3 days later, it settled back to where it was in the beginning minutes, now 2 weeks later, it is even better still.

Cables are this way as well IME. Sound great right of the jump, then get ready for a bit of a ride. These are my findings and are subjective at best. I can't say why or if it is more component or brain burn in, but I have found this to be the case in about every burn in circumstance I have went through.

jtcf

Re: Break In Time Periods
« Reply #22 on: 22 Feb 2020, 12:40 am »
@ketcham IME maybe 75% of the final sound comes through for the first hour or two,then it goes downhill for a period of time.If you're lucky it's back up and listenable by 50 hours.I can only stand to listen for maybe an hour each evening while they go through the process,just putting a CD in repeat all day with the volume off.Then along comes an evening when I'm pleasantly surprised and all is well again.And fingers crossed better than ever.

Tyson

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Re: Break In Time Periods
« Reply #23 on: 22 Feb 2020, 01:14 am »
Burn in. Such a mysterious topic. Just recently, I bypassed an electrolytic in the feedback loop of my amplifier with a film capacitor. Right of the bat, it sounded really great, and a nice improvement was realized. After about 15 minutes, the sound went strange, and remained that way for a couple days. About 3 days later, it settled back to where it was in the beginning minutes, now 2 weeks later, it is even better still.

Cables are this way as well IME. Sound great right of the jump, then get ready for a bit of a ride. These are my findings and are subjective at best. I can't say why or if it is more component or brain burn in, but I have found this to be the case in about every burn in circumstance I have went through.

Your experience precisely mirrors mine.