how to "break-in" speakers?

[Erman_94]

what are the proper steps to ensure a proper break in of speakers? what is a complete list of stuff to do? (i.e. what volume should i keep it at? for how long? how many hours should i listen at a time, if any?)

etc etc


im new to this so fill me in

[Johnny Vinyl]

The "break-in" of speakers is a much debated point. Some audiophiles and manufacturers swear by the fact this should be done, but the whole concept to me about how is rather vague (even after several decades of having owned various equipment).

The only think I can conclude from "breaking-in" speakers is NOT to play them at high volume. But what volume is that? So many different parameters fall into play that it's impossible to say what volume level that is for any given amplifier.

As such, I just use my "ears". I refrain from playing my speakers very loudly. On my amp that means not higher than the half-way mark for several weeks. I then gradually start to increase that level.

Does that improve the sound? I think it does, but it's not always immediately apparent. I found after breaking-in my Totems I didn't notice anything, but then something changed. I put on a fave recording and things seemed more noticeable...I could now hear things more clearly and more defined. Was that because of the "break-in"? I don't know. Maybe my ears and my mind were just more in tune with the record that was spinning.

If you want to be safe and follow the recommended guidelines, I'd suggest you keep the volume at a reasonable level for the first few weeks.

John

[zedd_117]

I wondered about this too, when I got my Def Tech Mythos system a few months ago. So I contacted Definitive Technology, via email, (surprisingly fast responses, like a couple hours tops!) and they said basically the same thing stated above. Play sorce material at reasonable levels (for me on my Onkyo 705 this is around -40 to -30Db, I know I'm a pansie, but with good ears )
They said the break in should be around 40 to 50 hours, which probably comes out to a couple weeks of normal use. That's only like 15 to 25 movies, or probably around 45 to 60 albums.
Also, very important to remember, not to turn the speakers on until they warm up to room temp. Had a friend blow out some Cerwin Vegas by bringing them in from his car, hooking them up and turning them on. sad but true.
Course we're in Pittsburgh, in February, so it's cold!

[Blu-Dog]

Originally Posted by Erman_94

what are the proper steps to ensure a proper break in of speakers? what is a complete list of stuff to do? (i.e. what volume should i keep it at? for how long? how many hours should i listen at a time, if any?)

etc etc


im new to this so fill me in

Rubber surrounds on drivers are initially fairly stiff. Repetitive flexing loosens them up, over time.

While it may be that before they've moved back and forth a few million times, they may not perform to the specifications one expects, it can't hurt them to be played normally.

The only speakers I've ever heard that changed after use for a few hours are subwoofers with very big rubber surrounds. I don't think this applies to any other type of driver, personally. Certainly not with metal dome tweeters, for example.

[Big Daddy]

According to Paul Barton, Canada's most famous speaker designer and PSB Speakers founder, speaker burn-in is a myth:

Finally, and perhaps most controversially, Barton talks about the supposed break-in effect of components that has become so popular in audio today. Break-in refers to running components for a long time (sometimes hundreds of hours) to the point where their components "settle" into their proper operating mode. Barton doesn’t doubt that some components do change subtly, but he thinks that the major improvements people think they’re hearing aren’t in the components at all. Barton doesn’t doubt that people are hearing these changes, but thinks that what they’re hearing is actually brain break-in.

Barton has examined his own speakers to test this. He has taken a Stratus Gold loudspeaker, built and measured some ten years ago, and re-measured it today. The deviation is slight, perhaps 1/4dB at most. Although that deviation can possibly be heard, it is certainly not a huge difference that one may attest to hearing. Instead, Barton surmises that the difference in sound that people are hearing over time is conditioning of the brain. He cites experiments done with sight that indicate the brain can accommodate for enormous changes fairly quickly and certainly within the hundreds of hours that audiophiles claim changes occur in. Could this apply to hearing, too? Barton thinks that more often than not, what happens is that the changes in perceived sound that are attributed to component break-in are simply the brain becoming accustomed to the sound. He warns listeners not to fool themselves.

From PSB's FAQ page:

Q. Do your speakers require a "burn in" time?
A. No, our PSB speakers will sound great straight out of the box.

Home Theater HiFi:

I dutifully ran them through several days of break-in at varying volumes and with a variety of source material. There was no noticeable change to my ears, and of course I had been listening to them every chance I could.

[CasualKiller]

http://www.audioholics.com/education...act-or-fiction

[Driver_King]

When I ordered three new drivers for my left SDA speaker, they sounded completely lacking, weren't very "quick", were totally different sounding, and just sounded wrong. After a few hours of break in, there was a huge difference in sound that even my friends and parents could tell there was something different. I do believe most speakers have some sort of break-in period. You can't tell me that a speaker playing for over 20 years with the same drivers are going to sound the same as another matching speaker with brand-new replacement drivers. That's just not going to happen.

[Intamin]

To second what Big Daddy quoted, the crossover designer of my speakers, Dennis Murphy, also said that speaker break in was a myth and couldn't figure out what would need to be broken in to begin with or what would be changing with multiple listenings. I would attribute hearing differences over time to just becoming accustomed with the speakers and the sound they produce, not that anything is actually changing. A personal example for me was the other day I was auditioning cdp's on a pair of Dynaudio Contour 5.4s, and for the first time heard very distinctly the bass line in a song. When I got home, I put that cd on again, and sure enough, I heard the bass line again, and it sounded every bit as good. I guess I wasn't trying to listen for it, but now that I've heard it, sure enough its there and always has been.

[BluHavik]

Originally Posted by Driver_King

When I ordered three new drivers for my left SDA speaker, they sounded completely lacking, weren't very "quick", were totally different sounding, and just sounded wrong. After a few hours of break in, there was a huge difference in sound that even my friends and parents could tell there was something different. I do believe most speakers have some sort of break-in period. You can't tell me that a speaker playing for over 20 years with the same drivers are going to sound the same as another matching speaker with brand-new replacement drivers. That's just not going to happen.

Same thing for me. After a few hours of letting them loosen up, they sounded much, much better to me.