- #1
KingNothing
- 881
- 4
I was involved in a hot debate about burning-in of audio cables. It's a line that many cable manufacturers have used for years and years, and they basically tell unsatisfied customers "You have to use the cables for over 200 hours before they become accustomed to playing the sound"...
Now, I was saying it's crap. But that's just some background, the real question here is all about physics. Someone else said:
Now, I don't know a ton about how voltages can move molecules. So what I'm asking is:
1) Is this even true? Can voltages 're-align' molecules? What exactly is 're-aligning'?
2) Originally I assumed that electrons were the only thing that really mattered in carrying a voltage...is this still true?
3) Even if this person is right, would it be wrong to assume that any movement caused by the electrons would be near completely insignificant compared to the movement caused by, say, a person bumping the cable and making it sway? It seems in my mind that even if the voltage does cause the molecules to move, that even a slight physical disturbance such as a hand or an air vent would completely un-do any sort of organization that occurred from the 'stress'. Are these invalid assumptions?
Also, what is a 'stress'?
Now, I was saying it's crap. But that's just some background, the real question here is all about physics. Someone else said:
Regarding cables, I know the following to be true.
Applying a voltage gradient/ electric field stresses parts of the dialectric and causes the molecules to move around. Contining to do this will cause them to align differently than the stresses they were set with during manufacture. (Much like cryo but for different reasons) The result of this action lowers the capacitance but mostly lowers the losses in the cable.
Does this constitute "Burn In"?
I suppose the real question is one of audibility. There is no question that a cable "changes" with the application of electric fields. So the real question is, can humans hear it.
Now, I don't know a ton about how voltages can move molecules. So what I'm asking is:
1) Is this even true? Can voltages 're-align' molecules? What exactly is 're-aligning'?
2) Originally I assumed that electrons were the only thing that really mattered in carrying a voltage...is this still true?
3) Even if this person is right, would it be wrong to assume that any movement caused by the electrons would be near completely insignificant compared to the movement caused by, say, a person bumping the cable and making it sway? It seems in my mind that even if the voltage does cause the molecules to move, that even a slight physical disturbance such as a hand or an air vent would completely un-do any sort of organization that occurred from the 'stress'. Are these invalid assumptions?
Also, what is a 'stress'?