Idle musings...
I love it when people debate/argue audio issues, but I hate it when people jump all over someone because they disagree with the "review" of their "pet" gear. I often laugh because it seems that when a person posts a positive review about a product everyone likes, comparing it to a more expensive commercial unit, no one questions the scientific procedures employed by the tester. They never say things about "break-in" or "warm-up", system "synergy" or question the cables, music or the hearing (or sanity ) or the tester. They just agree and go about their business, feeling secure in their purchase decision. Manufacturers are equally guilty of this, however, some like to do things that irritate me even more.
This got me thinking...I began pondering several things I have read over the months/years. Several assumptions or claims I have tacitly accepted without questioning were suddenly under the microscope (not a real microscope as I do not own one) and it led me to say "Hmmm". I say "Hmmmm" a lot throughout this observation, although I want it to be publicly known that the expression/word/whatever-you-call-it "Hmmm" was NEVER actually uttered during the course of my observations. I don't ever recall using "Hmm" during an actual conversation in my entire 37 years... [/i]
Do some manufacturers have built-in "excuses", like lack of break-in or warm-up, when their product is outperformed? I recently (okay, about a year ago) came across an article in a stereo mag (not Stereophile, the one with the black and white cover) in which a manufacturer was showing a new line of speakers at an audio event. The reviewer commented that the speakers sounded a bit bright or harsh and the manufacturer said they did not have proper "break-in". It made me think: "how dumb to you have to be to demonstrate a pair of speakers at a show without breaking them in?". Why even hook them up or play them if they are not at their best? Then it ocurred to me, (Aha!) was this in fact the case or was it just a convenient episode of "excuse making"? He could have blamed the AC or the room acoustics but he chose to blame it on lack of "break in". This makes sense because if it was the room or the AC, other manufacturer's products would have had the same issues. Hmm...I wonder
I am familiar with manufacturers who state seemingly outlandish break-in and warm-up requirements for their products, ranging from one month to six months. This makes me wonder, what is breaking in, the equipment or the listener's ears? I believe capacitors need time to burn in and wires seem to settle down after a week or so, but scratch my head when I hear about gear needing exteded time (like several months) to break-in. Do some designs require up to six months to break-in or is it just an opportunity for a convenient excuse when equipment is outperformed? Hmm...I wonder yet again.
I have read posts (I spend way too much time on this stuff) in which people complain about their metal dome tweeters sounding "bright" after 100 hours of constant play or 100's or hours of play, only to be told that their gear needs 500 or 1000's or hours to settle down. In my experience, harsh speakers will sound just as bad after 40 hours as they do after 400 hours. It may be a case of system synergy or room acoustics but it ain't (sorry former English teachers...) break-in. An amplifier that sounds brittle or ear-bleeding harsh at hour 199 is not suddenly going to be transformed into that silky smooth tube-like "dream machine" at hour 200, IMHO. Could it be that people's ears are just getting used to the sound of their harsh gear? Hmmmmmm.........
Don't laugh, as rediculous as this may sound, the same thing happened to me when I got a small dog. I have always had large dogs but my wife came home with two small dogs from the pound that we were going to watch temporarily...eight years ago. Anyway, I got so used to the size of the little dogs that when I visited a friend's house a couple months after getting the little dogs, his lab seemed HUGE by comparison. I have known the lab for years and he never seemed large before. He hadn't grown since my previous visit six months prior, however, my perspective had changed! Maybe I was just getting "broken-in" to the smaller dogs. There are a million examples of this happening...hand in bucket of cold water for a while will make room temp water seem hot, etc. Can the same be said of audio gear? Hmmmmmm..........I say yet again!
Warm-up is another issue I question. I believe solid state amp designs require more warm-up than tube. I accept this as a fact. At least this is one of the things I have learned from Audiojerry, a man I trust and respect. However, how long does it take for a typical CDP to warm up or the average amp or preamp? Does a DAC require warmup (an outboard one like the DIO)? Do certain pieces or designs requre more warm-up than others? Is the warm-up issue similar to the burn-in question in that it gives manufacturers or owners of equipment that is outperformed an excuse or reason to doubt the claims of people who have tested gear without coming out and calling them liars?
Think about it, if you need to run something continuously for 100 hours or 1000 hours (depending upon who is making the claim), how can you do any head to head comparisons? I suppose you could drop your amp, preamp or CDP over at someone's house or your local shop and have them run all of the test components continuously for a couple days (or months!) to give sufficient "warm-up" but that is not what I'd call convenient. Could be it's not a case of "warm-up" or break-in, maybe it's a case of "excuse makin' (sing that last line and it sounds like a Country song!). Hmmmmm.....I say yet again.
I am not aware of a single instance in which a manufacturer questioned a competitor's product's degree of warm-up or break-in when THEIR product comes out on top in a head-to head test. They merely assume or imply superiority.
Anyway, I don't pretend to be an expert in this or any area. The one thing I seem to learn more as I get older is how few "experts" there really are. It's hard to find the real ones because they seem to be less likely to portray themselves as such...they seem to leave that to the phonies, fakes, shucksters and the charlatains/marketers. I'll stick with the low key guys who just make great products without all of the confusing and often misleading "marketing" that is all too often associated with audio gear...AND without the excuses that usually follow whenever one of their products is outperformed. I guess I'm just a simple guy who loves audio, music, musings and saying "Hmmmmm......"
Peace,
Jackman
