Turntable break in

flaxton

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I have just purchased a brand new Rega 6 with a new Goldring 1042 cartridge. Will I notice any change in sound as it breaks in or is this just a myth. Thanks.
 

tackleberry

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You will notice the 1042 break in, but depends how you have it set up now It sounds very different head up/head down
 

Gray

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I have just purchased a brand new Rega 6 with a new Goldring 1042 cartridge. Will I notice any change in sound as it breaks in or is this just a myth. Thanks.
Just my own view, but I think way too much credibility is given to the issue of 'burn-in'.
Not saying there would be none (especially with electro-mechanicals such as carts and speakers), but I think 'brain burn-in' explains more of the perceived differences as people get used to new sounds.
 
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tackleberry

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Absolutely.

OP.
It’s a good cart, setup right, it sounds very good. I don’t have any experience of the arm you have though.
 

DUVET

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Carts do bed in from experience and that's not expectation bias from my POV . Had some take 20 hours other take up to 80 hrs . So don't doubt your set up. The sweet spot sort of arrives .
 
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DUVET

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Might be worth renaming the topic to "Cartridge break-in"...

With turntables most are soak tested for 48 hours or so before being packed and shipped so can't imagine any bedding in time .So agree with the above .
 

kernow

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I fully believe transducers break in, but not any more than 100hrs or whatever, as for kit itself.. ehh
 

tackleberry

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I’d be less concerned about about things settling in, Just good setup. I messed around with the tone arm height a fair bit, I found a big difference. Get the bass and top end how you like it and leave it!
 

Lawrence001

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I'd only thought of stylus/cart/tonearm cable break/burn in before but is it possible that initial use could benefit a TT mechanically? Any roughness in the spindle/bearing(/motor even?) could be worn down (more likely at the budget end) and the whole thing might settle into the plinth/onto the feet with the weight, especially after shipping or just slight intolerances in the manufacturing process.
 

kernow

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Interesting you think about that after tonearm cable. I wouldn't call any mechanical device burning in, might take an hour to settle or whatever. It's obvious with carts and speakers from new

And . Would likely be inaudible
 

Southeastern

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Tonearm cable - definitely will need burn in.

After purchase, I sent mine back to Analogue Seduction for a free burn in for a couple of weeks, and the issue I had with it before I did vanished.

However. Cardas cables are known to require long burn in periods, I just didnt think it was too much of a concern, until I was swapping things here and there trying to wonder why everything sounded a bit muffled since installing. After burn-in, that muffle was completely eradicated and its now spot on.
 

Lawrence001

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Interesting you think about that after tonearm cable. I wouldn't call any mechanical device burning in, might take an hour to settle or whatever. It's obvious with carts and speakers from new

And . Would likely be inaudible
I said break in rather than burn in, rather like speaker driver surrounds from new.
 
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mac72

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I have just purchased a brand new Rega 6 with a new Goldring 1042 cartridge. Will I notice any change in sound as it breaks in or is this just a myth. Thanks.
Goldring 1042 requires as little capacitive loading as possible also use short low capacitance tonearm cable , this one for example is 35pF/m plus connections:
https://www.shop.back-promo.co.uk/Silvercord/p4417238_16800086.aspx
Goldring could sound bit bright if you exceed 150pF total tonearm internal wiring +tonearm cable + phono stage input capacitance as the peak in FR caused by electrical resonance approaches hearing range but yes transducers do break-in or bed-in and it could be between 50-100 hours , most likely VTA would change slightly but nothing to worry about as record thickness variation would make more difference .
 

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