I heard "audio cable requires break in". Is there any objective data support this claim? Thanks, T Green

Question

I am looking for objective published data of audio cable physical/electrical properties before and after long usage that supports this claim. Hearing test data or claims does not count because it is subjective and many variables (player, receiver, amplifier, speakers) are included. Thanks, T Green.

Answer 1

I have read some articles about audio cables and how they need to be broken in, installed in the right direction, etc. I have also read articles about how this is ridiculous. Basically a wire is a wire. A conductor that has no directional properties. Nor do the properties change with use unless you put more current through the wire than it can handle. In that case it could get hot, melt the insulation and perhaps, if it gets hot enough, to melt or partially melt the wire. I would put most of the claim of certain wire properties as "snob appeal" or the manufacturer taking advantage of some people who are not technical and are willing to pay exhorbinant prices for claims that cannot be substantiated.



From wiki:

Many of the most outspoken subjectivists, including reviewers, columnists, and "pundits," lack engineering training, technical knowledge, and objective credentials, and most will fully admit a lack of understanding as to the technical merits of what they are analyzing, but nevertheless praise a product's innovation and performance [5] based on perceptual jargon.

Counterintuitively, subjectivists claim, but cannot substantiate, that wires are directional and therefore give better sonic performance in one direction.

Subjectivists often claim that home-theater sound is inferior to high-fidelity sound, even though double-blind tests have shown that this is wrong. Many subjectivists believe that the sound from records is superior to the sound from home theater. Subjectivists often look down on home-theater sound even though many subjectivists accept FM radio as high fidelity [24][25].

Answer 2

You won't see any "data" because the need to break in a cable is usually claimed in listening tests rather than technical tests.



It might be possible to measure changes to the insulation and wire due to aging/environmental exposure -- outgassing from the cable insulation, oxidation of the wire, mild heating of the insulation, etc. I have never seen any data that any of those occurrences can be shown to be directly responsible for a measurable change in audio response of a cable. The cables, like anything, will change over time -- but can anyone really hear the difference, and, is the difference really bad?



It could be possible that a listener might be able to detect a small change in delay time for a well-know test sample. Making a declaration of "good" or "bad" on the simple change in delay would seem to be a factor of the listener's attitude rather than a measurable quantity.



Many of the audio reviewers are said to have "golden ears", which is another way of saying they agree on what sounds perfect. But, just because a group says their version of perfect is the truth doesn't make it so. Since 99.99% of the people can't hear what the "golden ears" are talking about, is it worth spending the $$$$ to achieve it? 99.99% of the people don't seem to think so. And, even if you can hear it, is it really "bad" or just different? I'd vote for different, but I'm not selling magazine reviews or audio equipment.

Answer 3

I don't know of anything, but what would you accept as evidence? It may be possible to show that the electrical properties change over time, but you'd still have to correlate that with a change in audio quality, which is always going to be subjective.