HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

First the disclaimer I know this topic like so many is subjective, however there seems to be a degree of acceptance that the performance of cables improves with use (burn in).
For a cable to burn in does it need to be in use and passing a signal or will connected with the power on (and selected in the case of interconnects) suffice. Thanks Paul

In my experience, cables only burn in properly when carrying a current. However, whether there is a physical change in the cable or simply our ears getting used to the cable is an open question.

There have been some expensive cables that never seemed to run in for me (Mainly those coming from Cumbria) and others that seemed to like running for a while then being left in circuit.

Let your ears judge. Your perception is your reality. No-one can argue with it although many skeptics try.

This thread had me going back to my review of TSCS in the review thread on page 22. They do require burn in with music playing to these ears.

When you change cables, follow the NVA User Instructions so that you don't need to turn off your power amps. Some of the 'burn in' that some people hear may simply be the amps settling back in if you turned them off to change cables.

What you hear is what you hear, and not up for debate. What caused you to hear what you hear...is a different matter.

I'd have thought that to achieve burn-in you would have to have a signal passing through. Easy enough with an interconnect from source to preamp - run the source 24/7 but turn the volume off at the preamp.

No denying that people believe they hear cables burn in. But given that no science supports this, we really should look to equipment warm up and acclimatisaion as more likely causes.

Future shop who I rate offer a free burn in service for cables purchased from them using a purpose built machine "Nordost Vidar" and MCRU offer this burn in service for £55 per pair, money back in you don't hear an improvement. From a stone cold logic point of view it does not make sense but hey, a little bit of mystery is no bad thing

When I've baked off interconnects I've struggled to hear differences between them. I'd send myself potty trying to discern if a cable sounded different from brand new to a few hours or many hours of usage old.

We should let anyone who is a cable burn in believer carry on doing so. It makes them happy and the world a slightly happier place.

The ones that were hiding in a box that i threw on a bonfire were definitely well burned in .

karatestu wrote: ↑Thu Dec 12, 2019 6:50 am We should let anyone who is a cable burn in believer carry on doing so. It makes them happy and the world a slightly happier place.

The ones that were hiding in a box that i threw on a bonfire were definitely well burned in .

Yeah that's fine. Other people basing their decisions on their tests and bake-offs.

All I can do is report the results of my listening tests.

I can hear differences between speakers easily enough.
The same with amplifiers, although the differences between well executed amplifiers does start to get quite subtle to my ears.
CD players - of the very limited ones I've baked off so far - start to get even more subtle to the point of me seeing choice of CD player as not a big deal.
Interconnects - I've really struggled to tell them apart. And that includes a brand new £1.49 ebayed one vs a somewhat used, highly rated by others £120 one.

Speaker cables (again a very small number actually baked off) - I could hear a detectable difference at the frequency extremes in terms of tonal balance, but no difference in clarity, focus, low level detail and dynamics.

My post wasn't directed at you Lindsay. I just meant in general. The internet would be a better place without the endless squabbles about cables. Mind you, some people may enjoy watching the squabbles.