"Breaking In Speakers"

L

Loose4Bruce

Audioholic Intern
<font color='#000000'>A salesperson at a big box electronics store said that new speakers must be broken in.
Is this true or was he feeding me a line?</font>
 
B

bob griffiths

Audiophyte
<font color='#000000'>There are lots of theorys about this .
All i can tell you is when i worked in retail in the uk whenever we got a brand new pair of speakers in for demonstration use we always placed the pair face to face with one out of phase then left a CD on over night playing varied loud music material.In the morning when connected up correctly the speakers sounded much better and hense we sold more.
I even found on several occations that customers noted that our set of whatever brand of speakers sounded better than in another store with exactly the same equipment(in a dedicated dem room).Now the room has a massive difference to how speakers sound but this running in may have been another reason.</font>
 
L

Loose4Bruce

Audioholic Intern
<font color='#000000'>WOW......That's interesting.
Why one out of phase and why face each other?

I guess what I also want to know is if cranking new speakers right out of the box will do any damage to them.......if the &quot;breaking in&quot; theory has any merit.</font>
 
S

Sounds Simple

Junior Audioholic
<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>
Loose4Bruce : <font color='#000000'>WOW......That's interesting.
Why one out of phase and why face each other?

I guess what I also want to know is if cranking new speakers right out of the box will do any damage to them.......if the &quot;breaking in&quot; theory has any merit.</font>
<font color='#000000'>You wire them out-of-phase so that the drivers are moving in the opposite direction - one moving forward while the other one moves backwards. By placing them about facing each other, there is little noise in the room and, in theory, may accelerate the process by maximizing the &quot;push-pull&quot; process.

There is not any agreement that this works but the theory seems to be that it allows for quickly removing some of the stiffness from the rubber surrounds around drivers. It's possible that this is less important now than previously due to improvements in materials.

As tempting as it is to crank up the volume on your new speakers (just like pushing the accelerator pedal in a new car), I think it is always wise to get to know the equipment first. Start out with things at a reasonable level before seeing how loud they will go.

Bob</font>
 
L

Loose4Bruce

Audioholic Intern
<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>
Sounds Simple : <font color='#000000'><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Quote (Loose4Bruce @ Mar. 09 2004,8:16)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">WOW......That's interesting.
Why one out of phase and why face each other?

I guess what I also want to know is if cranking new speakers right out of the box will do any damage to them.......if the &quot;breaking in&quot; theory has any merit.
You wire them out-of-phase so that the drivers are moving in the opposite direction - one moving forward while the other one moves backwards. By placing them about facing each other, there is little noise in the room and, in theory, may accelerate the process by maximizing the &quot;push-pull&quot; process.

There is not any agreement that this works but the theory seems to be that it allows for quickly removing some of the stiffness from the rubber surrounds around drivers. It's possible that this is less important now than previously due to improvements in materials.

As tempting as it is to crank up the volume on your new speakers (just like pushing the accelerator pedal in a new car), I think it is always wise to get to know the equipment first. Start out with things at a reasonable level before seeing how loud they will go.

Bob</font></td></tr></table>
<font color='#000000'>Oh well I didn't mean as soon as I hooked them up!! LOL
It's just that I read somewhere a &quot;breaking in&quot; period of around 24 hours before cranking them.
Of course I'd listen to them at a normal level first. LOL
Thanks</font>
 
annunaki

annunaki

Moderator
<font color='#000000'>I would definitley consider a &quot;break in&quot; period for a new set of speakers. Here are some why's:

1) The rosins used in the spiders need to soften due to motion.

2) Surrounds tend to loosen up a little, but not nearly as much as the spider.

3) Maybe the most important, the electrical parameters need to stabilize.

I would suggest a full bandwidth pink noise at a somewhat moderate power level. (If reference level on your receiver or amplifier is 0db and minimum is -80db, set at around -30db to -25db.) A 24 hr. &quot;break in&quot; period would work well for most speakers. For best results, I would contact the manufacturer's tech support department for more specific &quot;break in&quot; directions.
Due to the annoying sound of pink noise, I would suggest doing this when you will be away from the house for the day.</font>
 
A. Vivaldi

A. Vivaldi

Audioholic
<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>
Loose4Bruce : <font color='#000000'>A salesperson at a big box electronics store said that new speakers must be broken in.
Is this true or was he feeding me a line?</font>
<font color='#000000'>It's True.</font>
 
Z

zumbo

Audioholic Spartan
<font color='#000000'>But, If this was a sales pitch to make you think they would sound better at your house, beware! If they sound bad in the store, they will probably soud bad at home. But it is a TRUE statement.
</font>
 
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L

Loose4Bruce

Audioholic Intern
<font color='#000000'>Thanks guys!!</font>
 
Rip Van Woofer

Rip Van Woofer

Audioholic General
<font color='#000000'>Even if it's a bit late, let me offer my usual contrarian opinion.

While speakers are in part mechanical systems, they're pretty simple ones and don't have the tight mechanical tolerances or undergo the stresses of, say, a new car engine. So there is not likely to be any harm in not &quot;breaking them in&quot; before listening at normal levels. In fact, playing loud pink noise or any test tone through a speaker, whatever its age, is much riskier than simply playing music at a normal listening level.

The scientifically-minded audio writer Tom Nousaine once related a test he ran on several identical drivers before and after a period of &quot;break-in&quot;. He found that, while there were measurable differences in a single driver before and after break in, the differences were still within the normal manufacturing variations to be found in a sample of several identical brand-new drivers from the same maker.

Another article I read quoted a person from a major speaker manufacturer to the effect that any break-in happens during the normal quality control checks before they leave the line.

I have never &quot;broken in&quot; speakers and have not discerned any need to. The changes one observes in the sound of a newly acquired speaker over a period of days or weeks is more likely due to their aural perception adjusting to the new speaker. Kind of like the way city dwellers learn not to hear traffic noise, for example. But basically, a good speaker will sound good right out of the box and for its entire life afterwards. And a poor speaker will always suck.

So: take 'em out of the boxes, hook 'em up, grab your favorite discs and enjoy.</font>
 
ThA tRiXtA

ThA tRiXtA

Full Audioholic
<font color='#000000'>I can see your points Mr. Woofer, but what are your thoughts on breaking in a subwoofer?

Still a useless process?</font>
 
Rip Van Woofer

Rip Van Woofer

Audioholic General
<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>
ThA tRiXtA : <font color='#000000'>I can see your points Mr. Woofer, but what are your thoughts on breaking in a subwoofer?

Still a useless process?</font>
<font color='#000000'>Yep. It's just another speaker.</font>
 
L

Loose4Bruce

Audioholic Intern
<font color='#000000'>The new infinitys that I bought and blew up mentioned nothing about this.
I just bought a pair of Athenas and it says so right in the manual. 50-100 hours.</font>
 
Rip Van Woofer

Rip Van Woofer

Audioholic General
<font color='#000000'>The Nousaine article I talked about (it's on my Webpage -- I forgot I put it there
) says he conducted the tests &quot;at the behest of manufacturers who insisted their products had to be broken in&quot;.

I stand by my comments!

(You blew up a pair of Infinitys? With what?!?)
</font>
 
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L

Loose4Bruce

Audioholic Intern
<font color='#000000'>I blew up a pair of Infinity Alpha 50's with stupidity!!!!!
I guess they didn't blow........but I screwed something in them.
It wasn't until after the fact that I did some research and found out that underpowering is a no-no!!!
Luckily I had purchased the extended warranty which covered my butt!!
Unfortunately, they were badly abused somewhere along the line.......when I went to pick them up the cabinets were dented and scratched. One of the tweeters was just hanging from it's mount. The other tweeter had dings in it and the little bar which is supposedly there for protection was broken off. When they were brought out on the cart, the girl actually had place one of them face down on its grill?
?
They had no more in stock or on order so a straight exchange wasn't possible.
I had to choose between JBL E 60 or Athena ASF2.
I'm hoping I made the right choice.</font>
 
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G

Guest

Guest
<font color='#000000'>I recently bought a pair of Axiom M22i speakers. Shortly after receiving the speakers I sent an email to the manufacturer asking them what their take on breaking in speakers was. They replied saying there is no such thing. It's more for the listener to get used to the sound of the speakers.

Now, when I first started to play the M22is, although they sounded nice I wasn't quite sure whether they were better than my old speakers (EPI -- manufacturer now defunct). There is a substantial difference in sound between the two -- the EPI being &quot;warmer&quot; (harder to describe it any other terms than warmer).

As time passes, I am enjoying the M22is more. They have better imaging and they really shine at loud volumes. I would agree to the general idea that &quot;breaking in&quot; has to do with the listener rather than the speakers.</font>
 
G

Guest

Guest
<font color='#000000'>I am not a big beleiver in the supposed benefits of the &quot;break in &quot; period that speakers go through. &nbsp;Why would they sound &quot;better&quot; if they are &quot;broken in&quot;? &nbsp;If the durability and lifespan of the drivers are deteriorating, then so is the sound quality. &nbsp;Could the speakers &quot;loosen&quot; up a bit, maybe so. &nbsp;But if the drivers are deteriorating to yield a &quot;better&quot; sound, then I'm sure that once the drivers are cracked, split, have rotted surrounds, and the voice coils are hanging out, audio nirvana really sets in! &nbsp;If you beleive this, then the sound must be constantly improving over time. &nbsp;

In reality, a person who has the means and skill in using a RTA or feedback analyzer will re-calibrate their system a few times a year to compensate for the decay or deterioration in sound quality as their speakers get older. &nbsp;There may be some sort of &quot;break in&quot;, but why would that be a good thing? &nbsp;I just roll my eyes when people say that their &quot;golden ears&quot; can tell a HUGE difference only a week after they bought their speakers, and that now they really do sparkle, thanks to the &quot;breaking in&quot;!!! &nbsp;The most &quot;breaking in&quot; that occurs during this honeymoon phase, is the &quot;breaking in&quot; of ones ears to a new set of speakers!

</font>
 
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R

Richard Greene

Audiophyte
<font color='#000000'>For cone drivers T/S specs change due to:

(1) Voice coil warm-up every time you use speakers

(2) Break- in  (rapid change in first few minutes of initial use,
then much slower during next few hours ... and probably too small to measure for the remaining life of the driver
(which is really a gradual breakdown of materials rather than
&quot;break-in&quot;! )
A smart manufacturer will break-in drivers during quality control testing at the driver or speaker factory.  Otherwise you may notice weak bass at first use in your home.

(3) There's nothing you do to stop break in, but if not already done at the factory, it can be done at home quickly by playing LOUD music that strokes the driver through a large percentage of it's XMAX.   LOUD high XMAX rap music to break-in a driver's spider, for example, not low XMAX string quartets.   It's unlikely you'd notice changes after the first few minutes of heavy use ... and likely that changes after a few hours of heavy use are just imagined.

Here are some usenet posts from audio experts.
Sometimes driver voice coil warm-up T/S spec changes are measured, compared with cold voice coil measurements,
and then falsely assumed to be permanent break-in changes.

http://groups.google.com/groups?....=gplain

http://groups.google.com/groups?....=gplain

http://groups.google.com/groups?....=gplain
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G

Guest

Guest
<font color='#000000'>&quot;and probably too small to measure for the remaining life of the driver
(which is really a gradual breakdown of materials rather than
&quot;break-in&quot;! )&quot;

True. &nbsp;

I'm still trying to figure out why some believe this is a good thing...

</font>
 
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Z

zumbo

Audioholic Spartan
<font color='#000000'>I broke mine in with my RX-V1400. Then I put an amp on 'em!
</font>
 
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