'running in' new h fi equipment
 

"Keith G" wrote in message
...

"Chris Morriss" wrote


The only things in my experience that change their sound in the first few
days of operation are loudspeakers. (And then not by much).


It may come as a surprise to a few here, but the minute you start to use
*anything* in this world it's 'physical characteristics' start to change
and it starts to wear out....





Wife included ;-)

'running in' new h fi equipment
 

On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 16:43:57 +0100, "Keith G"
wrote:

"Chris Morriss" wrote

The only things in my experience that change their sound in the first few
days of operation are loudspeakers. (And then not by much).

It may come as a surprise to a few here, but the minute you start to use
*anything* in this world it's 'physical characteristics' start to change and
it starts to wear out....

As with nostalgia, entropy ain't what it used to be! :-)
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

'running in' new h fi equipment
 

On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 22:01:30 +0000 (UTC), Stewart Pinkerton
wrote:

On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 16:43:57 +0100, "Keith G"
wrote:

"Chris Morriss" wrote

The only things in my experience that change their sound in the first few
days of operation are loudspeakers. (And then not by much).

It may come as a surprise to a few here, but the minute you start to use
*anything* in this world it's 'physical characteristics' start to change and
it starts to wear out....

As with nostalgia, entropy ain't what it used to be! :-)

Entropy: Plus ça change, plus c'est le meme chose.

Kal

'running in' new h fi equipment
 

In article ,
JustMe wrote:
in my experience, the selection of a musical instrument will depend on a
tonal preference - I certainly found this when trying out pianos and
would chose the one that I liked the sound of most.

If, however, that piano that you so like was recorded and replayed through
a system which adds or subtracts, it will no longer produce the 'tone' you
chose it for.

--
*If God had wanted me to touch my toes, he would have put them on my knees

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

'running in' new h fi equipment
 

In article ,
JustMe wrote:
I'm willing to accept it's *possible* for a speaker to change slightly
with use. However, I'd expect a decent maker to do this at the factory
before final quality check if it is a real issue.

Then you should also expect to pay more for that speaker in the shop.

To have something perform its best?

Decent speakers will be checked before leaving the factory. Not much of a
problem to run them for a few hours if this really was necessary.

--
*I don't suffer from insanity -- I'm a carrier

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

'running in' new h fi equipment
 

This is true and people do grow to appreciate things more with time.

And they never appreciate them less?

Sometimes that too.

What we are dealing with is
simple adaptation.

You know this to be the case in every instance?

some products (not necessarily new purchases
either) will sound different when warm compared with when cold.

Warm up, particularly of powered devices, is not the same thing as the
'running in' proposition.

I never said that it was. In fact I made the point of stating (as you kindly
quote), "not necessarily new purchases either". I also made reference to the
fact that the statement was "as I mention above", but you snipped that.

Human perception, changing environments, psychology, the brain, the ears
and
actual physical changes in the product all play a part.

To wildly varying degrees.

I remember once testing loudspeakers on a system where you could
switch instantly between them. I found that if you listened to one
pair for too long then the others all started to sound inferior when
you tried them even if they were in fact much better speakers.

Adaptation at work.

I find that quoting from two different people in this manner is confusing
and can serve to misrepresent the intent of both those you quote.

Have you tried comparing two pairs of the same model, one "burnt in" and
one
not?

Yup.

Well that's useful. Perhaps I should beg you to enlarge and provide a useful
response, rather than this smart-arse answer?
Would that give you the feeling of superiority which you seek?

'running in' new h fi equipment
 

Rather than "cut and past," I'll simply state that I have experience
the perception of a piece of equipment 'burning in' but never been
able to confirm it from my own tests or, indeed, from the anecdotal
accounts of others. I have done A/B comparisons (sighted, I must
admit) between 'run in' and new amps (McCormack DNA-1) and between
'run in' and new speakers (Magnepans, Celestions). Cables, too. In
no instance could I discern a perceptible difference.

I am also familiar with the neural adaptation, one of the most
ubiquitous mechanisms of the brain. So, while I will not state that
'running in' has no effect, I have not found good evidence for it and
I have experienced the effects of adaptation in that context.

Warming up a component or a system is something that I have
experienced making a difference, one that varies greatly among
components.

Kal

'running in' new h fi equipment
 

in my experience, the selection of a musical instrument will depend on a
tonal preference - I certainly found this when trying out pianos and
would chose the one that I liked the sound of most.

If, however, that piano that you so like was recorded and replayed through
a system which adds or subtracts, it will no longer produce the 'tone' you
chose it for.

True, and I might have spent a fortune ensuring that the recording
accurately represented this tone.

But I still cannot dictate how someone else should listen to that music -
whether I recorded it or not.

'running in' new h fi equipment
 

I'm willing to accept it's *possible* for a speaker to change slightly
with use. However, I'd expect a decent maker to do this at the factory
before final quality check if it is a real issue.

Then you should also expect to pay more for that speaker in the shop.

To have something perform its best?

For the additional man hours, extra time between production and sale,
facilities and space necessary to burn in speakers between production line
and QC.

I don't know what they'd do about the noise - presumably construct a special
sound-proofed room so as not to disturb employees with the sound of multiple
speakers playing god-knows-what, at once?

I seem to recall Linn used to do this on their Karik CD players (and, for
all I know, this is true of later models too). A rack full of CD players,
powered up and left running. It would be slightly tougher with speakers,
though.

Decent speakers will be checked before leaving the factory. Not much of a
problem to run them for a few hours if this really was necessary.

At what price level do you feel "decent speakers" enter the market?

'running in' new h fi equipment
 

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 01:28:04 +0100, "JustMe" wrote:

I seem to recall Linn used to do this on their Karik CD players (and, for
all I know, this is true of later models too). A rack full of CD players,
powered up and left running. It would be slightly tougher with speakers,
though.

I have seen dozens and dozens of raw drivers being driven, at high
levels, at the Burmester factory. This was done after basic screening
but before assembly into systems. I vaguely recall seeing something
similar at a visit to Revel.

Kal