Realistic Break-in

[mouettus]

I was a found believer of "plug them in an play them" before I bought my RC-10s. At first, bass sounded so weird, especially the fast kicks; almost as if I drove them into distortion but it was at moderate level only. Then it got artuculated and stopped making this bloated sound after maybe 8-10hrs. Nothing like the 50 hours they recommend in my user's manual though.

 

[fmw]

Some manufacturers do say after so many hours of break in the sound will improve. I suspect they say it to minimize returns. They know people are used to their existing speakers and may take some time to get use to, and appreciate the different but may be better sound. So yes, like others on this forum, I believe it is us who get broken in over time.

More than a suspicion. That is exactly why they do it.

 

[fmw]

I was a found believer of "plug them in an play them" before I bought my RC-10s. At first, bass sounded so weird, especially the fast kicks; almost as if I drove them into distortion but it was at moderate level only. Then it got artuculated and stopped making this bloated sound after maybe 8-10hrs. Nothing like the 50 hours they recommend in my user's manual though.

You got accustomed to the sound faster than they thought you would.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

There is only one reason that manufacturers recommend "break in": They hope that if you think the sound sucks, you will keep them past the 30-day return period hoping for it to improve.

 

[Pyrrho]

There is only one reason that manufacturers recommend "break in": They hope that if you think the sound sucks, you will keep them past the 30-day return period hoping for it to improve.

There is actually a second, more respectable reason: They may hope that you will get used to them and come to like them with time. If one is used to garbage, having a good speaker might be a bit of a shock, and it make take time to come to appreciate them.

Even so, this "respectable reason" for lying about speaker break in does not make lying respectable. They should say that you should play them a while to get used to them before you make up your mind about them, not that they will change how they sound over time.

 

[Pyrrho]

... playing magical incantations through them while dancing around them naked in the light of a blue moon ...

Finally, the real truth about how one should break in speakers.

 

[John91722]

Break in / Break out!

I recently bought a pair of Yamaha NS-555 to be the front / mains for my home theater. I hooked them up to my RXV-663 and the Oppo 983 player and played bits and pieces of a variety cds for about 3 hours that first day covering from classical to Steely Dan and to heavy metal and each time changed to another cd I increased the volume a bit. At about 85 minutes of play I had popped in Black Sabbath 'The Mob Rules' cd at track 4 "ES150" and cranked the volume up a few more notches so it was fairly loud to me, ES150 finishes and the title track "The Mob Rules" starts playing, I nudge the volume up just a tad and at about midway thru the song the sound from these new speakers smooths out, so noticeably that I sat up and said What the heck! There was originally a harsh preciseness that suddenly smoothed out, it wasn't I got used to the harshness, it smoothed out.

Now, I say there was a change and actual physical change occured that lead to improvement of the sound, a true breaking in. I have experienced some noticable break in with a friend's Chapman speakers that may simply be described as they become more musical. In terms we have generally described it as in the pursuit of "Musical transparency" another veil has been lifted. With the same friend, I have been down the break in road with other speakers. He says it takes about 100 hours of play to get some speakers broken in. I believe it, I have heard it.

Most anything that MOVES from engines to blue jeans to wallets to spearkers surrounds will have some sort of break in. The movement makes for wear patterns in the materials and its ability to move smoothly improves. I just had a the surround on a Velodyne subwoofer replaced as it wore out and fractured (the unit was 18 years old) and I think the significance of that illustrated that there can be and are changes that occur over time.

Now, some of you will say I must be under some sort of hypnotic suggestion or some sort of mind control but I can say, if that were possible then by now my old clock radio and lowly car stereo should sound like audiophile heaven. And they don't.

 

[Weasel9992]

Most anything that MOVES from engines to blue jeans to wallets to spearkers surrounds will have some sort of break in. The movement makes for wear patterns in the materials and its ability to move smoothly improves. I just had a the surround on a Velodyne subwoofer replaced as it wore out and fractured (the unit was 18 years old) and I think the significance of that illustrated that there can be and are changes that occur over time.

Now, some of you will say I must be under some sort of hypnotic suggestion or some sort of mind control but I can say, if that were possible then by now my old clock radio and lowly car stereo should sound like audiophile heaven. And they don't.

Well put.

Frank

 

[mtrycrafts]

I recently bought a pair of Yamaha NS-555 to be the front / mains for my home theater. I hooked them up to my RXV-663 and the Oppo 983 player and played bits and pieces of a variety cds for about 3 hours that first day covering from classical to Steely Dan and to heavy metal and each time changed to another cd I increased the volume a bit. At about 85 minutes of play I had popped in Black Sabbath 'The Mob Rules' cd at track 4 "ES150" and cranked the volume up a few more notches so it was fairly loud to me, ES150 finishes and the title track "The Mob Rules" starts playing, I nudge the volume up just a tad and at about midway thru the song the sound from these new speakers smooths out, so noticeably that I sat up and said What the heck! There was originally a harsh preciseness that suddenly smoothed out, it wasn't I got used to the harshness, it smoothed out.

Now, I say there was a change and actual physical change occured that lead to improvement of the sound, a true breaking in. I have experienced some noticable break in with a friend's Chapman speakers that may simply be described as they become more musical. In terms we have generally described it as in the pursuit of "Musical transparency" another veil has been lifted. With the same friend, I have been down the break in road with other speakers. He says it takes about 100 hours of play to get some speakers broken in. I believe it, I have heard it.

Most anything that MOVES from engines to blue jeans to wallets to spearkers surrounds will have some sort of break in. The movement makes for wear patterns in the materials and its ability to move smoothly improves. I just had a the surround on a Velodyne subwoofer replaced as it wore out and fractured (the unit was 18 years old) and I think the significance of that illustrated that there can be and are changes that occur over time.

Now, some of you will say I must be under some sort of hypnotic suggestion or some sort of mind control but I can say, if that were possible then by now my old clock radio and lowly car stereo should sound like audiophile heaven. And they don't.

Well, imagination does enter the picture no matter how you slice it. Speakers just don't change sound output in that amount. Who knows what happened at that passage? Without proper controls and replication, perceptions can be very unreliable. Bias, no matter how much one thinks it is under control, it is far from it. Since your event cannot be falsified, it is one of those unknown even that just cannot be tested, replicated, or anything.

As to that clock radio and car stereo, well, good story, poor analogy.

 

[cornelius]

As much as I give these guys a hard time about amps sounding different, I do think that most people's ears break in more than speaker's drivers do...

 

[mtrycrafts]

As much as I give these guys a hard time about amps sounding different, ...

We need that, from time to time

 

[cornelius]

Keeps things lively...

 

[Alex2507]

"actual data on several thousand drivers don't seem to give two sh!ts about opinions"

My favorite part from Mtry's link.

 

[mtrycrafts]

"actual data on several thousand drivers don't seem to give two sh!ts about opinions"

My favorite part from Mtry's link.

Someone read my link thanks.

 

[John91722]

Well, imagination does enter the picture no matter how you slice it. Speakers just don't change sound output in that amount. Who knows what happened at that passage? Without proper controls and replication, perceptions can be very unreliable. Bias, no matter how much one thinks it is under control, it is far from it. Since your event cannot be falsified, it is one of those unknown even that just cannot be tested, replicated, or anything.

As to that clock radio and car stereo, well, good story, poor analogy.

So what you are saying is no one hears a change it's just a Jedi mind trick and we are all weak minded fools...

 

[mtrycrafts]

So what you are saying is no one hears a change it's just a Jedi mind trick and we are all weak minded fools...

Firstly, you didn't have any controls in place to minimize or eliminate bias. Didn't because it wasn't a test for you in the first place. Something happened, or nothing really happened but your brain made an interpretation in perception that to you seemed like speaker change that was audible.
Who knows what happened, what you perceived since no one can repeat it to verify what you thought you heard, or that there was nothing but the brain's tricks, not a Jedi trick. And, yes, the brain has lots of tricks that alters reality.

Nothing new. This is a well known psychoacoustic phenomenon and part of human nature.

But, controlled testing in the past has not shown audible difference in speakers when new and with hours on them. Not much more can be said.

 

[cubbie5150]

Merely anecdotal, I know, but when I got my Monitor Audio GS60's, I very easily discerned some sort of "break-in." I took delivery on a Thursday morning--I had taken the morning off from work to meet the FedEx guy; I had a planned trip, w/ my flight leaving late that afternoon. I unboxed the GS60s, set them up, and started playing music through my primary source--an Apple TV feeding an external DAC. The sound wasn't horrible by any stretch, I thought it sounded very good. I listened for almost 2 hours before I left for the airport. I left my system running--had my settop box tuned to a digital jazz station.

I returned from my trip the following Sunday afternoon. I started playing music through my ATV again (the same Porcupine Tree album I had listened to on Thurs), and wow!! Everything just seemed tighter. I know, aural memory sucks, but in my case at least, it surely wasn't a situation where my ears simply got used to my new speakers. Of course I realize that placebo is still a possibility (probability?), but I have no agenda, no built-in reason to want to hear a difference. Juts my experience this last go around....fwiw.

 

[surferaudio]

I wish there was empirical evidence conducted by psychologists, sound engineers, and other specialists from different fields all conducting the experiment together and let them deduct their own conclusion.

I believe its a combination of placebo, emotional attachment/satisfaction, and the upgraded sound.

However, the issue is pre-ship QC of the company, do they break it in by testing out the speakers at x number of hours.. so it's pre-broken in? or do they just test for 1 minute and ship it out, then there would be some level of breaking in? There's too many variables to come to 1 conclusion

 

[jsholland70]

Speaker break in is a true occurance where the surrounds loosen up and allow the driver response to match the reference established by the manufacturer. Each speaker varies though but 40 hours is a good place to start.

 

[wilmeland]

this discussion never ends

I believe the best break in strategy is to play at moderate levels for the first 60 hours, but don't push the speaker to it's limits during this period. Kind of like breaking in an engine.

For those of us who can hear "speaker break in", depending on the speaker, it seems to be at around 50 to 80 hours. For those who can't hear the difference, it occurs within the first few seconds. A speaker is an electromechanical mechanisim. There are some barely measurable changes that take place during the initial use while surrounds and other mechanical components adjust to use. Since the changes appear extremely marginal, many believe you can't hear the difference.

Nothing to argue over, if you don't believe anyone hears a difference, then there is no such thing, & our ears just became accustomed to the sound.