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Interconnect Break In Time and Factors?


zuzu

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What is it in the construction or materials that add to or reduce the amount of time for an interconnect to break in?

Seen many theories posted on cable manufacturers websites on this - none seemed very credible to me.

Does playing at higher volume break in a interconnect faster?

Apparently not - at least I have never seen a reference to it.

What does the % broken in vs time curve look like in general.

Never seen that graph anywhere - but it is an excellent question - can a cable be 50% broken in? Also begs the questions - is there a difference in mass between a broken in cable and a unused cable?

Does break in occur faster between some components than others ie CD to Pre amp vs pre amp to power amp?

Probably not.

I think - if you are prepared to accept the idea that cables break in after the first few microseconds of play then the best idea would be to follow the instructions of the manufacturer. Some may even offer explanations along the lines you are looking for. This does not mean that what the manufacturers are telling you is true - but at least you can say you did all you could to get all you could out of their product.

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What is it in the construction or materials that add to or reduce the amount of time for an interconnect to break in?

...if you are prepared to accept the idea that cables break in after the first few microseconds of play then ...

Heres the problem I have with any of this.

I love how our selective attention seems to make small (il)logical leaps...

"Breaking in" cables...Oh, we have many legitimate cases where operating a mechanical device does indeed require and/or benefit from "break in". And from this many find it easy to accept the concept. And from there it is but a short leap to accepting the concept of "breaking in" cables and other electronics.

But except for some time variant scenarios (e.g. stabilization of a capacitor that cannot fully charge in zero time, for instance), can someone tell me what we are doing when we break in a cable? Is the crystalline matrix being realigned? I mean, what in hell is "break in"?

We are so comfortable with the phrase used with regard to other situations that I do not think that anyone who accepts this notion has stopped to think what is really meant by the term "break in"! And I would love to know just what they think is happening from a point of view within the real world of physics. In other words, I am not interested in one's subjective "beliefs" nor in their imagination.

Wittgenstein would have a field day with this! Well, in reality, as much of a curmudgeon as he was in real life, it would not have been a good day to be confronted by him in regards to this, as you would not have been on his 'good' list! But basically what we have is a meaningless phrase, which by virtue of an invalid association to other situations, assumes a meaning that is not fundamental to the situation nor is it valid. The word/phrase has no meaning. And despite the words being meaningless, we continue to function as if they have meaning.

There is no basis to a conductive crystalline matrix needing to rearrange the various holes and electrons to facilitate conduction. You may imagine that such a situation might be advantageous based upon one's experience with a seating chart for a Sunday tea or a wedding, but not only is this not feasible in a material without the fundamental reorganization of a crystalline matrix, it 'ain't happenin' at any of the temperatures, voltages or currents that any of us have cause to be around. And you may be surprised to note that such a reorganization does not necessarily result in improved conduction!

But if you are thinking this way, you are already off track in that you

are not thinking in a manner that correlates to reality. You are

thinking in a classical mechanics mindset, and while it may seem 'common-sensical', I'm sorry to inform you

that that is NOT how this 'stuff' works!

The problem with this thinking is that it employs a classical approach to mechanics. And this approach makes sense and is quite logical for 'big things going slowly'. But unfortunately, these models utterly fail to account for behavior of that which is 'very small going very fast' - near massless entities traveling near the speed of light. You are in the quantum electrodynamics zone. And everything you thought you knew about behavior up through your sophomore year in college is about to come crashing down, because it no longer applies. The rules have changed.

Anyone who finds that strange needs to take a break and go read up on the solid state (as in SS physics) concept of "tunneling" (quantum tunneling) and its applicability to a real world devices. I am having a bit of fun stressing the incongruity of the notions, but I would seriously suggest taking 20 minutes in a quick look, even if it is just a few simple google queries. And please don't let the math scare you (that is what we have grad students for!). (If it helps, think of the movie: The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai - oh, and for those those of you who have not seen it, DO!!!! And then promptly buy and watch Dark City from Deepdiscount.com for $5.99 DELIVERED! Dark City has nothing to do with this thread, but hey, I am still amazed how few folks are familiar with it!)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particle_in_a_box

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_tunneling

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finite_potential_barrier_%28QM%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_potential_barrier_%28QM%29

But again, our assumptions and expectations have gotten us into trouble by offering us a seemingly simple and logical, but erroneous, answer. And unfortunately, the marketing folks involved with audio accessories, where the REAL money in audio is to be made!, know this.

And if anyone "believes" (in the true sense of the root of the term "to wish something true") that this may not be the case, I invite you to take a solid state physics course, and you can marvel at the fundamental underpinnings of the subject. Not only will you be assured of ALLOT of fun! You will walk out of the class utterly disappointed that you had that much fun without finding any basis to the notion of cable "break in". ...And you will also quickly vow to re-examine your meaning of the word "fun"!

So just be aware that we set ourselves up for much nonsense by allowing ourselves to uncritically allow valid concepts in one frame of reference to carry over into other areas if we are not prudent in examining the basis for our assumptions!

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It's not so much the cable that needs to be broke in, but those wild electrons that need to be taught what to do. After a couple days, you should be able to put a saddle on 'em.

Hey Gil, can you imagine using some of that original telegraph wire today? Talk about "broke in!" I'm searching eBay...

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It's not so much the cable that needs to be broke in, but those wild electrons that need to be taught what to do. After a couple days, you should be able to put a saddle on 'em.

Hey Gil, can you imagine using some of that original telegraph wire today? Talk about "broke in!" I'm searching eBay...

Ah!!! Now there you have a valid point! And as for those willy electrons, that is why they make cattle prods! And if you run out of rambunctious electrons, you can always use them on the kids!

If you get a spare moment, see if they have any good deals on cattle prods as well...

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