Any updated break-in info on Merlin Duelund Upgrd


I believe I have about 250 honest hours on the Dueland's at this point. Sound is changing back and forth from great to strange and I am beginning to go nuts. I got the first 200 hours or so by letting a CD play on repeat for a week. Do I just need to let it run for 2-3 weeks and come back and listen then. Does time on repeat with the volume really low still serve to break in the Duelands??
etmerritt33
If the volume is really low, you won't be really breaking in the speakers. What most of the audio reviewers do is wire one of the speakers out of phase, place the speakers close together facing each other, and playing them with a good amount of volume. It really won't be that loud since one of the speakers is wired out of phase. The sound kind of cancels out but the drivers will get a good workout. The Isotek burn in cd is great for burning in speakers. I have been using it on my new Esoteric UX-3 player with great results.
Stereo5, Thanks for the good insight. Just wish I had a dedicated room and I could just put on repeat for a month and then come back and listen. Wish there was a device to burn these Duelunds in before they are installed like a cable cooker.
You're breaking in capacitors, not drivers. I can't see how the "out-of-phase" technique will make any difference.

I did this upgrade some years back and I don't remember it taking that long. My memory is that by 100 hours, they were pretty stable and sounding extremely good.

"Ask the Wizard [Bobby P.]. He'll know."
Bobby has some other stuff going on right now and I am not going to bother him with the question. We are having some plaster and paint work done in the room where the system is and that will last about two weeks so I will have to move and cover all my equipment. Based on what some people are telling me it may not be necessary to run the Duelund caps hundreds of hours before they break in and reach their potential. But, I would still like to know the best technique for doing that if you don't have a dedicated audio room where you can play are reasonable sound levels on repeat for days or weeks without a problem?