Wylie Williams wrote:
Steve,
Actually I didn't use the words "bad" or "better" so quotes are not
inappropriate. I said that "I found that some speakers sounded
disappointingly harsh and thin when new". Nowhere did I say that that I
expected them to sound that way. I found that out by listening.
Did the speakers change, or was it just my attitude? I always thought it
was the speakers that changed, but then nobody knows the depths of their own
mind. I may mention that many of my independent minded argumentative young
salesmen who loved to have a contrary opinion heard the same thing. Or
maybe their attitude changed.

I think it's safe to say that you thought they sounded bad at first,
then they sounded better after break in, yes?

I wasn't there at these trials, and you're recounting them considerably
afte rthe fact. Once you've decided that speakers *can* sound bad out of
the box but better after break in (and where did you get this idea in the
first place?) then there's expectation involved. And when comparisons
aren't done independently, then there's always the chance for
influence ("'Now, doesn't this speaker sound so much better after
break-in', said one salesman to another").

My "standards of proof appear to be somewhat less than rigorous". I admit
that am not a scientist doing rigorous testing. I'm just a person telling
what I have found to be so for the general information of the group.

And I'm just a person reading and responding to your post.

No, I never "investigated". Nor performed controlled tests. I listened a
lot to alot of various stuff.. I thought about it and formed some
conclusions, but my conclusions are the sort of personal unproved
speculation that I would not pass to the group.

I think you already passed on some conclusions, or maybe they're
assumptions...those are what I was responding to.

Similarly I have a computer
that works. I don't know how or why, and I will never investigate why; I'm
just convinced that it does and am willing to say so without further
investigation.

But if you were to investigate, you'd find that there's sound engineering
and scientific reasons why a computer does what it does. No one seems
to be able come up with such reasons why or how cables or speakers would
need to 'break in'. (Or why computers *don't* need to break in , if so.)