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Evaluation and break-in of a Hi-Fi cable in your system

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There is always a heated diatribe when it comes to breaking in Hi-Fi cables. Some audiophiles tell us that breaking in cables is unnecessary, while others tell us that it is just as important as breaking in other Hi-Fi components. In this respect, remember that when buying a new cable Speaker , in some cases it would be good to find the new ideal position for your loudspeakers. Let's be clear: you don't have to move your speakers a couple of metres. A few tens of centimetres or even just a few degrees rotation 'in place' may suffice. As this is the point where the electrical signal converts to sound, it's only fair to carry out all the necessary tests according to your listening environment. But let's get down to business: what is break-in and why is it important?

What is run-in and why is it important?

Breaking-in of Hi-Fi components is performed simply by running the equipment in question for a certain period of time to stabilise its operation and obtain a definitive result. Its importance is in some cases fundamental, as some components have a significant change in sound performance before and after break-in. Ricable , as a manufacturer, does not officially consider the break-in of a Hi-Fi cable to be fundamental, or rather, it does not give indications on if and how to do it. However, several customers have reported to us that they have heard a marked improvement after a break-in period of a fortnight when they have inserted our cables into their Hi-Fi chains.

Why some do and some don't? We have always said that every Hi-Fi system is unique and this makes us think that the insertion of one of our cables in the various systems can be different, even when it comes to break-in.

Since there is no cost, do it!

The great thing about break-in, whether of a cable, an amplifier or a loudspeaker, is that it doesn't cost anything and doesn't involve any fancy techniques to put it into practice. So our advice is always to do it before making any assessment.

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The evaluation of a Hi-Fi cable

Many of our customers have confessed to us that they have noticed a marked improvement after tens, if not hundreds, of hours of "breaking in" our cables. What comes into play here is an extremely interesting aspect, which we could define as the breaking-in of our ear. At the basis of the design of the cables Ricable there is one indisputable key word: neutrality. Each cable Ricable, even with the inevitable differences due to the quality of the series to which it belongs, aims to give the listener a sound that is as close as possible to that conceived by the artist who created the piece, interfacing with the electronics that it connects.

Neutrality, however, does not mean anonymity, but maximum correspondence to reality. This means that anyone who is used to a cable that emphasises high or low frequencies might find the sound of a cable Ricable "different". Not only that. The audiophile who has just bought a Ricable cable, being used to something else, might not like the new sound emitted by his own system. This is the case of one of our customers who, at the beginning, was not very enthusiastic about our Invictus cable, but then declared to be very satisfied with it. Maybe because in the meantime the cable has broken in? Or because our audiophile friend's ear has become accustomed to the new sound? The most truthful answer is probably... both. To confirm this, we have a circumstance that we cyclically come across.

dedalus signal

More than once we have sold used (and therefore broken-in) cables. Curiously, it was reported to us that the sound had improved after a while. Given this, we can assume that if a person is used to listening to a system with the same set-up for a long time, they get used to a sound. Even if it is not the most correct, when he changes a component (in our case a cable), at first glance he may be dissatisfied, because his ear is used to the previous sound. As time goes by, the component maybe even gets spoiled, but it is mainly the ear that assimilates the new sound. After a fair amount of time, the return to the old component is no longer even ponderable for the person.

Fifteen days to remove doubts

That's why a theoretical advice we give is not to carry out tests and comparisons with "stick-to-it-iveness" in a short space of time. Rather, we recommend maintaining the new set-up for at least two weeks, and then trying to return to the old way of listening. The solution is then to set up a comparison based on listening tests of sufficient duration. Directly deriving from this suggestion, there is also an advantage we offer our customers that is much more practical. We refer to the guarantee SWe are referring to themoney-back guarantee, which hasbeenextended to sixty days, exactly four times longer than required by law. This is the only way we can offer a period of time that, in our opinion, is sufficient for a proper "break-in". A break-in of both our cable and our hearing. At the basis of all these considerations there must be the fact that he cables in question are quality productslike those we offer our customers. To discover all our series and all our cable types, please click on the button below.

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