Acoustic Zen Adagio break-in questions....

I would classify the break in experience as painful with this speaker. The pair that I auditioned sounded quick and open, effortless. Not so with mine when I unboxed them. Constricted would be the best way to describe it, just off overall. Without going on too much, it was off putting for the first while, they just didn't sing like the demo pair that I heard did. When I made my purchase, I went out and listened to a ton of speakers, put aside everything that I had read and went out to draw my own conclusions. Having this experience makes you think that you've made the wrong decicion.

Anyways, I had been through this before with other speakers that I had purchased new, they always take some hours to loosen up. For the first while I just let them rip while I was at work or away which helped a great deal. I would guess that mine have 500+hours on them and they are doing a great job. It definitely seemed to take well over the recommended 100 hours for them to be at their best.

I have often wondered if a lot of the pairs that get sold are not fully broken in yet. At any rate, you should find that they have a much more effortless sound after you have a solid number of hours on them. Patience is a virtue I guess..

Audiojedi.....thanks. I went away for a few hours today and put on my old XLO break-in cd. Did cuts 6, 7 &8...which is a freq. sweep from bottom to top, a deep bass note ment to de-mag cables and then a 6 min bit of white noise. Well...I get home and they do sound better..as you say, I have many more hours to go..but this gives me some hope.

You might try the ayre burnin disk,the track just get the surrounds moving at half the annoying white noise,i have both xlo and ayre.Found both usefull,but the ayre really exercises the sourround and the frequency sweep is mo better.Robert puts at least 100 hrs of test on them before shipped.Mine didnt start to open up till 300 hrs or more,i suspect 500 would be more appropriate,they did sound as everybody described here.They have gotten all sorts of good jazz,vocal,the bela flecks greatest hits (cosmic hippo)really puts it to em though.I have had mine for 3 or 4 months now,very pleased with them.(robert loves to hear that!).

Well, I am happy to say that the "schizophrenic period" for my Adagio break in time seems to have ended....wow it was Sybil there for a while....sounding awkward all the time but in different ways. Sometime after the 100 hour point they started to sound musical, but tight...like many new audio pieces will..but they now sound like they need to be broken in rather than sold.

...the Adagios have suttled into a very musical growth process as the hours build. Fun to have a speaker that just becomes more enjoyable on a daily basis. Now when I am cooking or doing something in another room...I am often drawn into the music room because of what these speakers are doing.

Try hooking the cable to one speaker reversed, and placing the speakers close and facing each other. The out of phase sound waves will cancel to a degree and you can turn them up more without going quite so nuts. The longer the excursion/higher the voltage the faster they will burn/break in. The discs recommended are the ticket. Brown, white or pink noise(or all three as available on the Irrational But Efficacious CD).

Hello,

I just got a pair of Adagios and would like to know how you set them up (from walls, toe in, etc.)

Thanks