Last week, I visited one of my friends, and what a surprise I had. Antanas, bought power and interconnect cables over a year ago and was delighted with the sound. And the surprise was how good his system sounded, prompting me to write this ‘Audiophile cable burning’ article.

Many people ask what burning a cable means precisely. And also, how long must a person burn the cable in for? 

Audiophile Cable burning

When you make a cable, it has no direction as no signal has passed through. And so, the first step is to pass a signal through and establish the path. After which, the cable must be marked with a label and constantly used in the same direction. Are we talking hours or days for the cable to sound better? And are there any rules for this Burn-in process? Audiophile Cable burning

Experience

I have learnt from experience that a cable needs at least 36 hours of use to make a difference in performance. But this is only the beginning, and I always recommend 300 hours to hear a significant difference from the cable. But remember, at the beginning of this article, I said what a surprise I had. Well, let me expand on this statement. Audiophile Cable burning

The cables I listened to had been playing for over a year and played for a couple of hours each session. Meaning they have been in use for over 3,000 hours. My friend played me a song I had not heard before, and I sat mesmerised. The sound was crystal clear, with beautiful details and a rich, full bass. I said OMG, this is amazing, and have you changed? To which he replied, “Nothing.”

My friend then played some of the music with which I am familiar. And this also sounded magnificent. So when I said surprise, I should have expressed shock because everything sounded so good. And how could it be as my friend had not added anything new! So what I heard proves that a cable certainly improves with age. And, when a person asks how long it takes to burn in a cable, I will say 1000 hours at least and tell them this story. Audiophile Cable burning

Power cable

To burn in the power cable is straightforward. Because all you have to do is plug the cable into the mains power outlet and leave it there. The initial period to hear a difference is after 36 hours, and then you will listen to another change after about a week of constant use.And after about a month of continuous use, you will hear another change. Audiophile Cable burning

Interconnect cables

To burn in an interconnect, again very easy. Because all you have to do is connect the interconnect from your source and plug the other end into your Amplifier. And just follow the same procedure as for the power cord. Also, one thing to remember is that once you have connected your cables, they must stay in the same direction. 

Loudspeaker Cable

To burn in your loudspeaker cables is very easy as you do the same thing as the other cables. Connect your Amplifier out terminals to the loudspeaker in terminals and follow the same procedure as above. Again, it is essential to mark which way the cables go (direction of flow) because they must stay in the same order.

Conclusion

You need to understand the reality of cable Burning. Because it can make or break a system sound if not done correctly, and given the time to allow the cables to break or burn in. Also, after my visit, my friend decided to upgrade the power cable and interconnect cables and has written a review about our listening experience

If you enjoyed ‘Audiophile cable burning’, please share with friends – thank you.

Perkune I Professional audio service