Speaker Cable Break-in

[admin_exported]

I purchased a new set of speaker cables and it's suggested they "break-in" for 150 hours or so before sounding their best. The questions is, can I hook these new cables to the amp while capping off the speaker end and "run them in" while continuing to listening to my old set of speaker cables? Will it hurt anything to have two sets of speaker cables connected to the amp, while only one set is connected to the speakers and the other set to nothing?

P.S. The reason for not hooking them up and keeping the system on for 150 hours straight is that I have tube gear, and that's a lot of tube life to loose. So have to break them in during listening only.

 

[professorhat]

Just use them normally would be my advice. There's a lot of debate on cable run in and I'm not going to get into that (but this thread undoubtedly will I'm afraid).

The best that will happen is they'll sound better after 150 hours, the worst is they'll sound no different

 

[Bodfish]

What professorhat said...Don't lose any sleep over trying to hear the burn in either!

And start building a small shelter...or hide behind the sofa.

 

[Anonymous]

Just plug em in and stop fretting!

 

[Dave_]

Cable "burn in" debates aside....

If you dont connect the cable's at the speaker end,you've got an incomplete/open circuit, so no current flow- If there isn't any current flow then how are any supposed changes in the cable going to happen?

Do as the prof says-just use them!

 

[MattSPL]

As above, the speaker is the electrical load on the end of the cable so no current would flow through the cables if the speaker was not connected.

Silver cables take longer to break in than copper generally.

But i have always found that new cables may sound better than your old ones straight out the box, if the new ones are a significant upgrade over the old ones.

And usually, any initial muddy or constricted sound from the new cables will dissapear in 2-8 hours then thay will gradually improve for a further number of hours(100+), depending on cable.

 

[Anonymous]

those who say that new speaker cables or interconnects don't need 'breaking in' most prob have rubbish ears or rubbish equipment

have read many posts on different forums where some say it is utter rubbish .... my experience has shown me different (on more than 1 occasion)

 

[Anonymous]

dim_span:
those who say that new speaker cables or interconnects don't need 'breaking in' most prob have rubbish ears or rubbish equipment

Harsh and entirely your own opinion of course. As for 'rubbish equipment' - it's all relative.

You do inadvertently illustrate the right point though, like most contentious points in hifi it's all down to each individuals own ears.

 

[Anonymous]

dim_span:
those who say that new speaker cables or interconnects don't need 'breaking in' most prob have rubbish ears or rubbish equipment

have read many posts on different forums where some say it is utter rubbish .... my experience has shown me different (on more than 1 occasion)

You like the word rubbish, although I've never heard it applied to ears.

"You Sir, have rubbish ears, you cad".

I agree with crimsondonkey - a bit harsh. IMHO of course. YMMV. Personally, I've tried to hear a difference and cannot.

Yours

Graham "Rubbish-Ear" Thomas. See signature for rubbish kit!

 

[Anonymous]

It's documented beyond doubt, that while cables can't alter the sound, only a slight change of position -- for speakers or ears -- will.

And then there's psychology, of course. Which will always play around with those who ignores it.

 

[Anonymous]

Fahnsen:

It's documented beyond doubt, that while cables can't alter the sound, only a slight change of position -- for speakers or ears -- will.

And then there's psychology, of course. Which will always play around with those who ignores it.

Gee... thought I'd have a zillion bad comments on my prev comment ... thought I'd wind some people up

but seriously, I have found differences in new interconnects and cables that have been 'burnt in' vs brand new...

the changes are small but definately there ....

the same a when comparing different speaker cables .... small changes .... but I must be honest I have not heard and compared the very expensive interconnects/cables (yet)

 

[Anonymous]

dim_span:
the same a when comparing different speaker cables .... small changes .... but I must be honest I have not heard and compared the very expensive interconnects/cables (yet)

What only small difference with your high end system and high end ears..?

 

[Anonymous]

crimsondonkey:dim_span:

What only small difference with your high end system and high end ears..?

high end budget system ... and low end ears (could not hear the difference on spotify files between the 196 and 320kbps files)

 

[Anonymous]

dim_span:crimsondonkey:dim_span:

What only small difference with your high end system and high end ears..?

Heh heh but you can hear a cable burn in on that trash!

Sorry you mentioned you liked a wind up?

 

[Anonymous]

My advice it to just leave your stereo on at a low volume (as high as you can tolerate) for as long as you can with speakers connected.

Some of the other notes about how the cable will initially sound much better, connections degrade over time as perhaps mositure seeps in.

On any stereo system I ask all audiophiles to simple disconnect and reconnect all your cables (including power plugs) and listen.

You will hear a great difference if you have not done this in a while.

My practice is to disconnect and reconnect on a weekly basis. I also clean my connectors using a solution called TPC (hard to find now) every couple of months. Works really well at lengthening the time between the need to disconnect and has a overall effect of bettering sound quality. There are other solutions out there but I haven't tried them yet.

Glad to see a lot of experienced folks who have tried and heard diffferences between cables on this forum site (I am new here but a long time high-end audiophile).

Analogue rules !!!

(but I look forward to the day digital can surpass it and we ain't there yet. but getting closer....)

 

[Anonymous]

You can also use De-oxit to clean contacts on your kit and I find it works well too .......

 

[Anonymous]

I'm a novice with this stuff. If I have my cable cryo treated will I have to break them in all over again?

 

[bigfish786]

i've just bought some audioquest 14/4 speaker cable, replacing the "gale" copper cable i bought from richer sounds around 7 years ago.

i can hear a difference in the cable immediately.

do i believe cable will sound better after a burn in.. yes, after my last experience.. going from single runs, to bi wire then to bi amping. yes, i think cable begins to sound better after a few weeks of listening. i also know that your hearing will adjust too.

what a lot of people call better, others may just call different.

the audioquest cable, in my opinion is better than the basic cable it replaced. and that's who's opinion matters the most.

 

[Al ears]

I'm a novice with this stuff. If I have my cable cryo treated will I have to break them in all over again?

No, but you will have wasted some money.

As you can see from most of this thread cables do not 'break in'.

 

[spiny norman]

I'm a novice with this stuff. If I have my cable cryo treated will I have to break them in all over again?

No, but you will have wasted some money.

As you can see from most of this thread cables do not 'break in'.

Given that the question you've just answered was asked almost four years ago, one would hope K McB will have found out the answer for himself by now :rofl:

 

[Al ears]

You are quite right there Spiny. I blame bigish for rejuvenating it - and myself for not checking dates.