Non-linear break in?

[W9TR]

I have a new Michell Gyro SE fitted with a Hana ML cartridge.

Right out of the box it sounded amazing. Deep wide soundstage along with great timbre.

After about 5 hours the soundstage got smaller and instrument timbres were off. The whole thing sounded congested.

Now after about 20 hours it is opening back up and is almost as good as the first play.

Anyone else experience this during break-in, where the sound gets worse before it gets better again? Very weird.

 

[Michaels HiFi]

I have a new Michell Gyro SE fitted with a Hana ML cartridge.

Right out of the box it sounded amazing. Deep wide soundstage along with great timbre.

After about 5 hours the soundstage got smaller and instrument timbres were off. The whole thing sounded congested.

Now after about 20 hours it is opening back up and is almost as good as the first play.

Anyone else experience this during break-in, where the sound gets worse before it gets better again? Very weird.

Virtually every piece of gear I've ever broken in as gone through stages such as that. I've found sometimes when it starts to sound good again it's a false good - meaning if you stop there it will go backwards again and lead to frustration.

I've found most gear requires 275-350 hours burn in to sound best. So I have a regimen of 400 hours on any new gear prior to even bothering to listen to it.

 

[slowgeezr]

I have a new Michell Gyro SE fitted with a Hana ML cartridge.

Right out of the box it sounded amazing. Deep wide soundstage along with great timbre.

After about 5 hours the soundstage got smaller and instrument timbres were off. The whole thing sounded congested.

Now after about 20 hours it is opening back up and is almost as good as the first play.

Anyone else experience this during break-in, where the sound gets worse before it gets better again? Very weird.

Yes. I had a similar experience with my Hana ML. It was so bad that I thought I had made a huge mistake in purchasing it! It didn't take long however, for it to start sounding like it should. I also had a long break-in with my new speakers. They kept going from great to not so great to great again. Now, after at least 300 hours of music making, they are sounding incredible. I've been told that they will continue to improve until the 600 hour mark!

 

[Bones13]

Hmm, might need to retry my Hana. I have a Benz Micro SL, and when the needle broke, tried the Hana ML. I had a similar experience, and when the Benz got back from re-tipping, it’s been there ever since. Every so often I will run the Zu modified Denon cart, it’s great with classic rock. I keep coming back to the Benz, but perhaps I need to fully get the Hana run in.

 

[W9TR]

Thanks all, for sharing your experiences. It’s good to know I’m not going batshit crazy. Most of the time I buy used stuff that has already been broken in, so I haven’t experienced this phenomenon.

I’ve got a bunch of classical box sets I can play in the background until this cart gets fully broken in. It has potential, I think, and if the first few hours of play are any indication, it should be a great cart when it’s fully broken in.