Topic: DIY cable cooker?

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

Cable cookers are not cheap. I found a DIY kit but it's still more than I want to pay.  I've read about one of the well reviewed cookers and it puts out a 12V square wave with a varying duty cycle and center frequency.  the 12V is supposed to speed the burnin effects.

I am thinking about using RS232 driver/buffers and NE555 timers to build a cooker that varies the frequency and duty cycles but uses a 10Vpp signal (+/- 5V).  If i recall the 1488 will take a range of rail voltages so I could use +/-5V to get the 10Vpp.

Anyone of you hardcore geeks tried something like this?

Right now I do burnin by putting the ICs between my cable box (which is on 24/7) and the TV audio inputs and I'm getting fed up with realtime.

[BobW]

 

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

You don't believe that cables break in?

[Daryan]

If he doesn't, he would be extremely wrong...

Though I have seen arguements to the contrary.  Trust your ears...

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

Well, I haven't actually ever heard the effects of burn-in myself.  But I've never had brand new interconnects.  The pulsars are essentially new so this is my first opportunity to see if I can detect a difference.  Many people report that they hear a difference so I'm willing to try a test.

Everything I've read about cable burn-in suggests that the effect is due to induced changes within the dialectric material and nothing to do with changes to the wire itself.  If he is using lacquer coated transformer wire (like he mentioned in another post), then his dielectric is air.  I would expect no burn-in effect for those wires.  So from his experience, no such thing as burn-in would be a valid conclusion. 

I was just asking because I didn't know if he was making fun of burn-in or me for being suck a geek that I would consider building this thing.

[1st set only]

take the money that you would waste on a "cable burner" and donate it to a charity.

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

take the money that you would waste on a "cable burner" and donate it to a charity.

I appreciate your opinion.  Care to share some additional background on how you came to this conclusion?  I ask because I read a lot of comments regarding this topic that border on the religious so I'm wondering what background (experience, education, etc) might have led to the conclusion.

Except for maybe a few resistor values and some perf board, all the parts I need to make this are spares that I already have in my garage.
I'm not sure what the american cancer society would do with a sleeve of 1488s.

[JackoRoses]

can't you just run 120 through them?
rig up an eletrical plug to connect to the cable connector and just power the cable?
I don't really know much so I don't know what would happen if you tried such a thing.
It seems like it would accomplish the same thing though.
Why does it matter what it really is hooked to? As long as energy is flowing through it?
I know naive and ignorant, but I am open to hear why this is a bad idea.

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

The cable cookers I've found all generate a broad spectrum signal that covers the entire audio band.  120V AC is 60hz only.   I don't know if that makes a difference or not.

I'm naive and ignorant too, that's why I'm willing to try this.

[Daryan]

Cables definately break in, as do most components in my opinion, esecially speakers and amps.  It took a good two weaks for the panny to break in after mods, and my new speakers took every bit of 200 hours before they sounded like I expected them to.  Cable cookers are exspensive.  That said, do you not have a local audiophile show/manufacturer that has one?  Most do, and I don't see any reason they wouldn't let you use it for a night to break your new cables in.  Silver takes MUCH longer to break-in than copper fwiw.

Daryan

[cheshirecat]

as do most components in my opinion, esecially speakers and amps.

Well specifically capacitors do, thats why speakers/amps do.  I'm still not convinced on cables, but I'm no EE.

[BobW]

I am a skeptic, although I will defiinitely agree that speakers and tube amps break in.
Since I don't hear what you hear, I'll leave it to you to deceide what makes a difference in sound.

Try to seek out the biggest bang for your buck !
Avoid "wierd science" and snake oil by using solid vendors with money back guarantees.

I was taught that cables do change characteristics with aging, usually for the worse.
Take that FWIW, my E.E. teachers were fossils back then, none are still alive.
They were some of the greatest folks that I ever met, real characters with a lot of real world experiences.
But I digress.

Trust your ears, Luke !

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

All the interconnects I buy are very well constructed and from well respected manufacturers.  I haven't encountered any manufacturers who make "snake oil" claims but I've also not had exposure to everything that is out there.  I have read some pretty deep bullshit in the advertisements for certain tweaks.  I usually research what I buy and I almost always buy used at a price that I can resell if I don't like them.   I'm all about bang for the buck.

I'm not entirely convinced that I will hear burn-in with interconnects, but some of the manufactures claim that the wires change with time and burn-in is widely reported in the community, so I want to try some experiments.  I'm playing with different wires right now and when I find the make and model I want to use through out my system, I'm going to buy a few pair of them new.  So I'm preparing for that time when I'll have fresh wires with which to do a controlled test.

I have an MSEE.  My concentration was processor design and organization, but I took all the core courses in field theory and semiconductor materials.  I'm sure that there are EE's out there who would be able to construct a very good argument for or against audible effects of interconnect burn-in, but I have not met one yet.  Every argument on either side (the valid arguments, not just religious rants) leaves me thinking "well that sounds good but that isn't a complete proof".  My own knowledge of materials is sufficiently lacking that I can't construct a strong argument either way and I don't always know enough to counter the flaw in an argument, but I just know enough to recognize an incomplete proof.  I think that if there is a complete proof either way, it's more likely to come from someone with a background in applied physics related to materials.

As you suggest, I'm going the empirical route.  It's worth the effort just so I can satisfy my curiosity.  When (if) I do, you're welcome to come participate in a double blind test.  Just bring beer.

edit: spelling, grammer

[Daryan]

http://lofi.forum.physorg.com/Cable-Cooking_1278.html

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

http://lofi.forum.physorg.com/Cable-Cooking_1278.html

Yeah, no offense but that river and pebble analogy is why I say I've never heard a coherent explanation for or against burn-in.

[Tim]

yeah, that's not very persuasive.... he may very well be correct but he's not convincing anyone with that

[Daryan]

I figured it was at the very least, a non-audiophile forum...not trying to do any convincing, you either here it or you don't I guess.   

[Tim]

I'm not overly skeptical of the idea of cable burn in, a few engineers I know have convinced me that there is some burn-in... I think some people over hype it though

[leegeddy]

imho, i believe in the burn-in process. on an atomic level, nothing is static (unless you're at absolute zero... 0 deg. Kelvin). electrons are in constant motion and carry the charge from one point of the cable to another. + and - polarities exist.  simple facts that can not be ignored.

with that said, the QUANTIFIABLE difference between a fresh cable and one that has been burned-in is a small one. not an "in-your-face" difference. it could be a minute change in depth perception, or a change in how the treble/bass is perceived. but the fact remains that there IS a difference.

marc

[Tim]

imho, i believe in the burn-in process. on an atomic level, nothing is static (unless you're at absolute zero... 0 deg. Kelvin). electrons are in constant motion and carry the charge from one point of the cable to another. + and - polarities exist. simple facts that can not be ignored.

with that said, the QUANTIFIABLE difference between a fresh cable and one that has been burned-in is a small one. not an "in-your-face" difference. it could be a minute change in depth perception, or a change in how the treble/bass is perceived. but the fact remains that there IS a difference.

marc

this is pretty much my position after hearing nearly the same thing from several engineer friends as well as from marc.....

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

OK, well not to stay on point or anything, but do you guys who believe that burn-in is an audible effect think that the cooker I suggested is the right thing to do?

[BobW]

http://lofi.forum.physorg.com/Cable-Cooking_1278.html

What do they think of tin-foil hats to keep out alien rays ?     

[Ray76]

or pop rocks and soda