Is it possible for amps to have a break in period?

[got rice]

Is this possible or a myth for break in?

For me, today my system had a little extra to it. I don't know what it is, but I have played a few different movies and they all have a stronger balance and DEPTH especially in the mid range to the entire front stage.

Would this be this amp or the speakers breaking in? I never really experinced this but, it is really cool. I've owned theSC-07 for about 7 weeks and the speakers for close to 3 months. I'm not being over excited and fanatical about my gear, just wondering what it is? All I know is it is a welcomed suprise.

I'm new to this can some of you chime in?

[Grevlin]

could the extra power have "broken in" your speakers for a second time... just wondering out loud.

[H9k_]

Yes. You are not insane
All gear can i theory (and reality) have break in period but there is also a big factor that your ears are also broken in and you get used to the sound and start to notice stuff. Its a good mix of the above.

[JJ]

It took me around 10 months to get to my system's peak. And its probably not even done.

But it is a lot of psychoacoustics. Theres a debate as to whether its just your ears getting used to the sound, or your actual tech breaking in, as it were. Nobody really knows.

[got rice]

so do you think its a speaker thing?

For movies the volume is usually around -10dB to -15dB, now at this level the sound is not so much louder, but fuller and deeper. I may have desribed my speakers as more dynamic and clear in previous posts, but there is a distinctive difference.

[H9k_]

I know what you mean, i usualy figure it is the last piece of gear i put in. Would guess speakers getting used to new and better controlling amp.

Nice AV btw: Rickson by armbar :P

[got rice]

Okay I'm on the side that there is a break in period. Since I went with the Elite the sound has always had clarity that wasn't apparent with my other receiver, but just recently the fronstage has more depth especially with voices. this is the only word I can comeup with.

Did any of you experience a noticeable differnce, all the sudden?

[got rice]

Originally Posted by H9k_

I know what you mean, i usualy figure it is the last piece of gear i put in. Would guess speakers getting used to new and better controlling amp.

Nice AV btw: Rickson by armbar :P

Thanks.... Its by far the best cardio and hands on appliacation I've encountered. Unless of course there are multiple attackers, then you really use your cardio and run.

Do study with rickson? he actually was my Professors class mate in Brazil.

[Big Daddy]

Speakers, amplifiers, receivers, BD players, and cables do not need that much break-in time. For example, a subwoofer's spiders need less than an hour of break-in time and not hundreds of hours. However, your brain needs a lot of break-in time to adjust to the new sound and the thousands of dollars that you could have spent on your kids or spouse.

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

Speakers, amplifiers, receivers, BD players, and cables do not need that much break-in time. For example, a subwoofer's spiders need less than an hour of break-in time and not hundred of hours. However, your brain needs a lot of break-in time to adjust to the new sound and the thousand of dollars that you could have spent on your kids or spouse.

Alright No Problems

[got rice]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

Speakers, amplifiers, receivers, BD players, and cables do not need that much break-in time. For example, a subwoofer's spiders need less than an hour of break-in time and not hundred of hours. However, your brain needs a lot of break-in time to adjust to the new sound and the thousand of dollars that you could have spent on your kids or spouse.

then I must have woke up on right side of the HT bed.

or maybe it was the beer and shots from yesterday.

we have a give take relationship. the kid everything, wife second, and then poor me.

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by got rice

then I must have woke up on right side of the HT bed.

or maybe it was the beer and shots from yesterday.

we have a give take relationship. the kid everything, wife second, and then poor me.

I'm lucky then, I keep taking and my wife keeps giving....I luv that woman!

[naturephoto1]

It depends on the parts used in the equipment. Some parts may take a relatively short time but some parts may take hundreds of hours to fully break-in for the equipment to reach the full potential.

Rich

[got rice]

Originally Posted by forsberg21

I'm lucky then, I keep taking and my wife keeps giving....I luv that woman!

Its a set up for something big? Probably not monetary though.

[got rice]

Originally Posted by naturephoto1

It depends on the parts used in the equipment. Some parts may take a relatively short time but some parts may take hundreds of hours to fully break-in for the equipment to reach the full potential.

Rich

Would you mind looking at my very, very modest sig and tell me if break in is a myth on this level of equipment?
Thanks

[naturephoto1]

Originally Posted by got rice

Would you mind looking at my very, very modest sig and tell me if break in is a myth on this level of equipment?
Thanks

There is a difference of opinion by many listeners, audiophiles, and designers. Sort of the idea of splitters and lumpers. I am of the opinion that you may well be finding that there will be a break in period for your receiver, player, and quite likely your speakers. Additionally, many in the know think that there is a break in on wire and cables. There are expensive devises that are used for just this purpose.

[CasualKiller]

Break in is no myth, I too am a believer. I'm a little loony though, even now that my receiver is broken in I won't even consider using it for music unless it's had at least an hour to warm up.

[Big Daddy]

I have changed drivers on speakers and subwoofers several times. I have also built subwoofers on many occasions. Everytime, I have done this, I spent hours listening to them and measuring their output with an SPL meter. I have not been able to establish any significant change in sound quality over time. In fact, on a couple of occasions, I became disappointed with the outcome of a modification over time that sounded impressive to me initially. Recently, I put my newly purchased Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray player through extensive movie, music, and test tone torture tests. I cannot claim that there was any change due to break-in time. In every instance, I used my ears, my wife's ears, and my reliable SPL meter.

Please read A Day at the NRC With Paul Barton of PSB Speakers to understand the importance of research at NRC (National Research Council) in Ottawa, Canada on speaker designs and the opinion of a highly respected expert on the subject of break-in.

The Canadian loudspeaker industry rose from humble beginnings to worldwide prominence in the 1980s. Today it is renowned for producing some of the finest products in the world. Paradigm, Mirage, Energy and PSB are the largest of the many manufacturers in Canada and have become the cornerstone of the industry. Their products are sold worldwide, have gained acclaim from reviewers and consumers, and stand second to none in their respective markets. However, the industry’s status did not rise by accident. The history of each of these companies holds a common thread -- Canada’s National Research Council (NRC) located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

If asked to pick name one designer who is synonymous with the Canadian industry, most would likely choose Paul Barton. His initials, combined with his wife Sue's, compose the company name, PSB Speakers, whose products have sold now for more than a quarter century. Barton has personally overseen all of the loudspeaker development since PSB's creation in 1972.

Since 1974, Barton has been using the world-class measurement facilities of the NRC. According to Barton, up until about 1980 he could basically come and go as he pleased since very few, if any, other companies used the NRC like PSB did. Times changed. As companies learned of this incredible resource, they, too, began developing there. The 1980s witnessed the highest level of loudspeaker activity at the NRC. Almost every major Canadian company tested their loudspeakers in the NRC’s anechoic chamber, and plenty of research was taking place.

The NRC employs some 1000 Ph.D.s who conduct research in a multitude of areas.

The rise and recognition of Canadian manufacturers was not mere luck, nor was it due solely to the expense that went into building such facilities. A lot of personal effort went into the tests conducted at the NRC, and they were done with such precision that the results are still considered groundbreaking. At the center of it all is Floyd E. Toole, a former NRC employee. Toole now works for Harman International, parent company of Infinity, JBL, Madrigal, Revel, among others. Toole holds a B.S., Ph.D. and D.I.C., each in electrical engineering, and his name still comes up when speaking with Barton, or Rene St. Denis, who works for the NRC and performs the testing in the chamber.

Toole took on the arduous task of attempting to correlate loudspeaker measurements with listening impressions -- a topic that still sparks hot debate today. Using the NRC's vast resources, including the anechoic chamber, precision measurement devices and standardized listening room (listening chairs with calibration microphone shown in photo above right), Toole performed measurements not only on loudspeakers but on the listeners themselves and documented his findings in three important papers. Today those three papers are bound in one booklet titled Subjective and Objective Measurements of Loudspeaker Performance, which is available from the NRC. The booklet is far too complex to go into any great detail here, but it is highly recommended reading for anyone interested in this topic. Barton points out three of Toole's main findings that he believes are critical:

• "Most of the people, most of the time, agree on the qualities of loudspeakers."
• "Musical taste and musical experience are no prerequisites for judgment of good sound, although they may take inexperienced listeners longer to come up with the same answers." (Barton describes this "learning" period as one involving days, not months or even weeks.)
• "A properly interpreted set of loudspeaker measurements correlates very strongly with subjective listening impressions." (The key to this is "properly interpreted.")

These papers yielded such substantial results that designers used the criteria and could actually design their speakers accordingly. Some of these criteria for loudspeaker designs included: wide bandwidth, low distortion, and wide and even dispersion characteristics. Besides Barton, Ian Paisely of Mirage and Kevin Voecks now of Revel worked closely with the NRC at that time.

Barton explained that at the time there were no criteria for manufacturers, sales people, and most importantly, consumers, to make informed buying decisions. Now they had some through Toole's rigorously executed research. Today, almost all major players in the Canadian industry adhere to Toole’s findings.

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.

[petenad]

Nice find BD your a wealth of info ...........also answered a couple of questions for me. I wonder if the NRC will do a study of break in periods for a wife 20yrs and I still don't get it right

[H9k_]

Originally Posted by got rice

Thanks.... Its by far the best cardio and hands on appliacation I've encountered. Unless of course there are multiple attackers, then you really use your cardio and run.

Do study with rickson? he actually was my Professors class mate in Brazil.

No i dont. It was just an old saying from back in the 90`s when Rickson was owning all with just his gjj.
Bet he got good grades then..or else! :P

Enjoy your new gear, sounds like you have mutch joy ahead. And remeber to trust your ears. History has shown us that Just cause some 1 currently cant measure or expalin something does not mean it is not there.

Edit: Post above made me lol maybe some members here can help you out lol.