BURN NOTICE
Layman's terms
This page has been put together to give you an idea of what to expect in regard to the burn-in process of many of our Bella EXtreme products. I receive phone calls almost on a daily basis from customers telling me there is something wrong with their product only to find out they just took it out of the box yesterday.
Audio products need to burn-in....plain and simple. How long this burn-in takes and what to expect during this stage depends on what type of components were used to assemble it.
The biggest mistake people make is prematurely evaluating the potential of an audio product before it has reached maturity. Give it time and you will be well rewarded.
-----------POLY FILM ----------------
SoniCap Gen I, SoniCap Gen II, Audience AuriCap & other film capacitors
Any product using one of or a combination of these capacitors requires a minimum of 200 hours before critical evaluation can begin. In the beginning, especially with the Audience AuriCap, you will notice a thin, unappealing sound. The bass may be flobby, the midrange dark and recessed and the upper end lacking sparkle. Don't worry. Once you reach about 50 hours, these capacitors start to stabilize. You are not seeing their potential yet but you are starting to see the improvements. At 150 hours, things are coming around nicely and you are starting to realize what these capacitors are capable of. Just a little more patience and you will be there.... We have now reached 200 hours. Okay, you can relax now. Your concerns have been set to rest and everything sounds good. Bass is fast and dynamic, midrange is clean and the sparkle you have been waiting for is finally here. From here on out, you should still continue to hear improvements but the hard part is over. Enjoy!
-----------OIL & OIMP ----------------
Paper In Oil, Oil Impregnated Metalized Polypropylene
You will usually find these capacitors in our loudspeaker designs and modifications. They are usually the OIMP type. These capacitors take a solid 250-300 hours ( a bit less for standard PIO capacitors) of break-in before you will realize their potential. The process is similar to that of the capacitors above except the time frame is extended a bit. In the beginning, these capacitors usually sound pretty bad. Don't give up on them as they will enlighten you in the end.
-----------TEFLON ----------------
I get more calls about products utilizing Teflon capacitors than any other type of capacitor. Teflon capacitors take a solid 400 hours to reach about 90% of their true potential and their true colors open up at the 600 hour mark. It has also been established that they will even continue to change, ever so slightly, up to 1200 hours. You may not notice these changes and I only mention it to give you an indication of the characteristics of Teflon.
During the break-in cycle of these capacitors, they will go through different stages. During the initial 150 hours, you will notice these capacitors will do a two steps forward, one step back routine. What you will notice is that one day you system may sound fine while the next day (after it's one step back) it will not sound as good as it did even the day before. This is the stage where the capacitors can actually sound broken. Don't be alarmed, it's simply the nature of Teflon.
What you will notice is a 2 dimensional sound. The bass may be uncontrolled, the midrange a bit foggy and a lack of air and extension. Absolutely no coherency.
After 150 hours, the capacitors start to stabilize. From this point onward, they will be more consistent in their progress. They will still only be at about 50% of their sonic potential but the one step back issue is gone. This stage will last to about the 200-250 hour mark. This is where they start to become more 'listenable' but you are till only half way there.
The bass should start getting better here and the highs a bit more extended but the midrange is not quite there yet.
Now that you have gone through the ugly stages and have reached the 300 hour mark, things are starting to come into focus. Teflon capacitors start coming into their own between 300 and 400 hours. You may still noticed a few quirks but they should be minimal at this point. You have have more control down below, the midrange is becoming more real and the upper end is starting to extend further. This is when I usually receive the phone calls telling me I was absolutely correct about what to expect.
One you reach the 400 hour mark, you are starting to reach sonic nirvana and it will not be long before you are experiencing the truest potential of Teflon capacitors. It's been a long road but you will probably find the journey well worth it. This is the point where the midrange magic is apparent. You should notice a sense of texture and realism that is uncanny. The bass is quick and firm and the highs extended with a great sense of air. You will now start realizing a wide, spacious presentation as well. At this point, I don't receive any phone calls at all as you will be too involved in your music to want to waste time talking to me.
After 400 hours........... Heaven.
-----------MUNDORF ---------------
Here we are speaking of the Mundorf Supreme Silver/Oil and Silver/Gold capacitors. There have been many conflicting reports on how long these capacitors take to burn in. One thing to keep in mind is that these capacitors are rated at a much higher voltage than the other capacitors we have been speaking of. The Mundorf capacitors are rated at 1200V which means they take longer to break in than you average 200V-600V capacitors.
Both the Silver/Oil and Silver/Gold version will initially come across as sterile and dry lacking body and warmth. These take about 400-600 hours to start opening up and show their true potential depending on the type of circuit they are in. In higher voltage applications, the burn-in process is closer to the 400 hour mark whereas in lower voltage applications such as an input signal of a preamp or amplifier, the process closer to the 600 hour mark.
-------------SYSTEMS ----------------
Regardless of what others tell you, your system as a whole needs time to settle in. It doesn't matter if you go out and purchase all used pieces with thousands of hours on each them, the system needs to come together as a whole. After assembling your audio system, leave it untouched (no cable swaps, tube swaps, power cords, etc.) for 30 days.
-----------VACUUM TUBES ----------------
I will not go into great detail here just yet but some of what to expect will be the same as with the film capacitors mentioned above. Here is a brief burn-in table for some of the current production tubes.
Russian tubes - 150-200 hours
Chinese tubes 50-100 hours
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