Author Topic: DIY Break-In Device  (Read 8745 times)

Offline rollo

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DIY Break-In Device
« on: January 22, 2019, 10:34:36 AM »
    A worthwhile project. Folsom, Dave, Steve somebody get on it it will be a seller and very useful tool. Should break in cables AND components.


charles
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Offline Folsom

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Re: DIY Break-In Device
« Reply #1 on: January 22, 2019, 11:41:04 AM »
Are you willing to fund it?

Offline Nick B

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Re: DIY Break-In Device
« Reply #2 on: January 22, 2019, 01:23:45 PM »
Understand about the funding part, but it’s a great idea. Over the years I would have used it repeatedly.
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Offline James Edward

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Re: DIY Break-In Device
« Reply #3 on: January 22, 2019, 02:44:09 PM »
I will post the controversial answer- if you don’t like it when you first try it IN YOUR SYSTEM, no amount of break-in is going to change that. I’ve had many pieces of equipment, many that I wanted to like, but never one that transformed itself, over a period of time, into something manifestly different.
I see the the hours posted on forums about break-in times, and think to myself, there aren’t that many hours in a day to be doing that.
The second part of that joke is how many people, when selling equipment, usually say something along the lines of- low hours, hardly used, only in second system, etc., etc.
In my opinion, there are way too many variables to make a judgement about break-in affecting sound in a home environment.
I’m not a measurements guy; I believe that I might enjoy a piece of gear that measures poorly- but why would a manufacturer knowingly put out a product that takes 250-500 hours of break-in to sound good? This would mean that they tested various capacitors, power supplies, speaker drivers, wire, etc., etc., etc., ad infinitum. There are not enough hours in the day.
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Offline Folsom

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Re: DIY Break-In Device
« Reply #4 on: January 22, 2019, 04:11:55 PM »
I don’t share that opinion at all. There is break in. Ya it can take a couple hundred hours. (Two weeks straighht) but sometimes 20hrs is enough.

I have heard things go from meh to great.

Offline James Edward

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Re: DIY Break-In Device
« Reply #5 on: January 22, 2019, 05:17:37 PM »
It seems a lot of effort to listen to something you don’t care for waiting for it to morph into something you do. Again, why would a manufacture send out something that doesn’t sound good, and hope for the best?
I’m NOT saying break-in isn’t real, just that it won’t transform something undesirable into something that is.

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Offline Folsom

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Re: DIY Break-In Device
« Reply #6 on: January 22, 2019, 07:56:42 PM »
I make things, break them in, then judge. This is well accepted in the industry.

Honestly if you don't have the patients or perseverance for the annoyances of things like this, you can't possibly enjoy vinyl. I think you've got the wrong hobby. Audiophile is about pain in pocket book, pain in the time spent, pain in the back trying to move the shit around, pain in the ear for things that don't work out right, pain everything... but with the goal of a higher level of bliss. It's a superb hobby because it's relentless. Even if your stereo is PERFECT, it takes time to get good vinyl, clean it, maintain it... This isn’t the industry for instant gratification.

Folsom is for hire for designing things... Mr Rollo. Just saying.
« Last Edit: January 22, 2019, 08:38:36 PM by Folsom »

Offline mresseguie

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Re: DIY Break-In Device
« Reply #7 on: January 22, 2019, 08:22:44 PM »
Questions:

Does number of watts affect the burn in time? For example, if I rig a 100w light/fan/thingy to a new power cord vs I rig a 7w light/fan/thingy, does the wattage draw influence the burn in time?

What contraption can burn in ICs or speaker cables? A short time before I came to Taiwan, I bought a pair of Steve's RCA cables. It took forever to burn them in (for various reason). If I had had a 'cables burn in' contraption, I could have burned them in well before I brought them to Taiwan.

You can probably guess that I'm not an electricity wiz nor am I an engineer.

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Offline Nick B

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Re: DIY Break-In Device
« Reply #8 on: January 22, 2019, 09:05:49 PM »
My Antelope dac took forever to completely break in....up to 500 hours. I had read those comments online and didn’t think that could be....but it was true. To be listenable, it took about 300 and I kept track of the hours. It was a royal pita. That’s why if someone had a breakin service to do some of this work, believe me I’d pay for the service.
The Antelope was by far the worst component ever for break in.
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Offline rollo

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Re: DIY Break-In Device
« Reply #9 on: January 24, 2019, 12:46:48 PM »
  Funding ? How much would ya need to make prototype for AN members to use.


charles
contact me  at rollo14@verizon.net or visit us on Facebook
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Offline Folsom

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Re: DIY Break-In Device
« Reply #10 on: January 24, 2019, 03:48:36 PM »
I dunno yet. Sometimes a couple versions are needed to finalize.

I am picturing something that can burn in source, preamp, IC’s, speaker cables, and power cords depending on how it’s hooked up. It won’t be super small because it would have jacks for all of it. And you could do multiple at a time.

Does it need an enclosure? That’ll add quiet a bit.

I am thinking maybe it could do 4 sets of IC’s at a time. 2 speaker cable sets. 4 powercords. And/or two amps, 4 preamps, and 4 sources.

It’ll have a lot of switches.

A DIY person can save money by only putting in a few switches and connectors. For consumer or dealer they’ll probably want it all, and maybe more than one.
« Last Edit: January 24, 2019, 06:51:51 PM by Folsom »

Offline Folsom

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Re: DIY Break-In Device
« Reply #11 on: January 24, 2019, 11:38:44 PM »
It could easily do 2 phono preamps as well.

It becomes pretty expensive when making it capable of burning in amplifiers because the resistors cost A LOT. They're a risk factor when connecting an external amp (cheap with the internal one I'd use). I can't just pass the extra power because it would make the amp unstable.

Charles, would you really be wanting a DIY version??? or something you can use as a dealer? I think as a dealer it makes a lot more sense. An enclosure would be big, and need active cooling if it can do big amps.
« Last Edit: January 25, 2019, 01:28:24 AM by Folsom »

Offline Folsom

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Re: DIY Break-In Device
« Reply #12 on: January 25, 2019, 01:11:11 AM »
Should it be capable of doing speakers as well? I'm only looking at possibly 50w per channel internal amp.

Offline tmazz

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Re: DIY Break-In Device
« Reply #13 on: January 25, 2019, 05:10:13 AM »
Or one could simply put one of the many break in discs on the market into your CD player and set it on repeat......... :-k

Remember, it's all about the music........

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Offline JBNY

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Re: DIY Break-In Device
« Reply #14 on: January 25, 2019, 06:52:59 AM »
Here is what I have been doing for a few years, It covers all the bases and I don't think anyone makes anything that would work better, or do anything different.

For cables I use

Velleman HPG1 1Mhz Pocket Function Generatorttps://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006YTWMZW $100
STEREO LINE PRE-AMPLIFIERhttps://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I01ZNUS $36

The Function generator lets you do sweeps up and down from anything from 1hz to 10Mhz, with different sign waves too. couple it with the line amplifier used to increase the gain I can get output to over 7V on a cable. so over 3x the 2V that line level normal sees. I have a pair of RCA connectors that I soldered a 5watt 10K resistor to them, so the ends of the cable get the plug to simulate the load.

For power cables I have a Reef Tank that uses 1200 Watts of lighting for 9 hours everyday, so I just swap out the cable for the lights with a High end power cable and let it literally cook for a few days. I can tell the power cables that are not made to handle hi powered equipment as they get warm in a few hours. the ones that are a proper gauge never do.

For equipment just run a playlist on repeat. I have a Hagerman iRIAA2 - Inverse RIAA Filter https://www.haglabs.com/collections/accessories/products/iriaa2-inverse-riaa-filter that I use for Phono stages.


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