Warm - in/ Burn-in Periods (1 Viewer)

[James_SCEA]

My question is regarding the warming or burning in of a new component. Is there a certain number of hours that you have to warm a component in for, depending on if it is an amplifier or a player?

Would you generally leave a disc on repeat for the total warm-in period or would that be too taxing on the player or amplifier?

Are those "burn-in discs" effective in reducing the number of hours required to burn cables or components in?

Thanx for the help!
JC

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Hi James. Welcome to HTF!

I'm afraid I only believe that things like speakers and perhaps projection televisions need burn-in.

Cone-type speakers have a metal spring called the "Spider" that CAN loosen up in the first 1-80 hours of use. Measurements have been taken at hour 1 and hour 100 of a new speaker with the same sounds and a difference is visible with an oscilloscope.

Rear-projector televisions have optical paths and generate a lot of heat inside the cabinent. People who calibrate televisions for a living know that if they adjusted a fresh-off-the-truck set, they have to repeat the work 3-4 weeks later. The heating/cooling/heating/cooling cycling of the television eventually settles down so that adjustments made at the end of the first month tend to stay valid for many months afterwards.

Note: "Burn-In" is different from "Warm Up".

I'm afraid "Cable Cookers" and letting a new CD or DVD play to 'condition' the disks or 'burn-in' the electronics are pretty much based on junk-science.

Hope I did not burst your bubble :frowning:

 

[JamesCB]

Burn-in is a very controversial subject.
Warm up, however, is real (I think). When I get home from work, I like to put on some music. When I first turn the amp on, the sound is a little thin, a little soft in the bass. But, after about 30 - 45 minutes, after the amps are warmed up, the music seem to come to life with more low bass and tighter upper bass. I don't know if it is just me, but when you get used to the sound of your system, you notice these things. I understand that tube amps need time to warm up, though this may be required because of their design.

 

[Toby Wong]

"letting a new CD or DVD play to 'condition' the disks "

There are actually people who believe that????

/boggle

 

[Bob McElfresh]

There have been a number of really strange tweeks like:

- A green marking pen that claims will improve the sound of your CD's if you draw a line across the top with this special pen.

- Cable Cookers that promise to pre-condition your cables

- Cable Coolers that freeze your cables to make them sound better

- Exotic disks of wood that when placed under your CD player improves the sound

- Someone said that placing a quarter (yes a coin) on top of your CD player improves the sound. Several people swear they heard a difference.

- Little stands that hold your speaker wires up off the floor a few inches to improve the sound

- After-Market AC power cords that improve the sound of your amp & electronics. (There may be something to this one)

- Room Tuners - little electronic box's that you attach to the walls that adjust the reflective properties of the wall to improve your sound.

- Special foam plugs that fit into the corners where the walls and ceiling meet that claim to improve your sound by not letting sound-waves 'collect' and hang-out in the corners.

etc.

Some of these tweeks have little or no basis in science. Others DO have some science behind them, but ... deal with a nuance issue at best, or are a mis-application of possible solutions.

 

[RobertCharlotte]

A quarter? A quarter? Ludicrous!!

I have, though, heard many pieces of music which could be improved by the applicaton of a fifth.

 

[Chu Gai]

Indeed, you'd need at least a dollar coin and if you're fortunate enough to have silver dollars, as I am, and from the 1800's I might add, it can be amazing.

Getting back to the topic at hand, my advice is when you buy something new, make sure every aspect of it works even if you don't think you're going to use it. Leave it on for a few days to make sure nothing dies or becomes margninally operational. You'd like to be in the position where you can return it for your money back if you're not happy otherwise, you're now in the position where it needs to get serviced.