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Bass Drivers - Quickest / Best Way to Break In?

As a proud owner of new EgglestonWorks Andra I speakers, I am completely impressed and satisfied with their sound, from 63 Hz and up. In my room, they are amazingly live, dynamic, detailed but natural, very well balanced (as the frequency response shows (Rives CD, RS analog meter)), and the sense of acoustic space is just unbelievable.

But then there's the bass...I know the Dynaudio bass drivers (two 12" in each cabinet) take some time to break in. I have bearly any audible response below 50Hz; the response drops 15 to 20dB from reference (80dB) very quickly after 63Hz. When I crank up the volume on the 20Hz tone, I get the woofers moving, but the equivalent volume level would be around 95db at 1Khz. That's loud folks!

I tried respositioning the speakers closer together, to simulate a friend's setup, also Andra Is, and he's only down 3dB at 31Hz. No such luck for me, so I don't think it's a room thing, not for the lowest octave and a half range like this, so it must be break in, right? My bass drivers just don't seem to want to move that much at 80dB.

What would be the safest way (for the drivers and the simple low pass bass crossover). I assume that playing the 20Hz tone repeatedly may cause overheating of either? I guess I am impatient! I have about 50 hours on the speakers thus far (yeah, I know, that's nothing!).

Thanks!
1markr

Showing 2 responses by kr4

kr4's avatar
kr4
3,651 posts
 
I am leaning Grant's way here (on the driver or crossover perspective; I know it's not my system, since it was also used on my Andra IIs)...I only agree with you on the "can't gain 15db during break-in" statement, and not on the room issues. If it were a room issue (it's not, since my Andra IIs, similiar bass driver configuration) in the exact same spot had plenty of low bass at 30 and 40 Hz.
Well, having that addition info, I tend to agree. OTOH, it is hard to imagine that both speakers had the same malfunction. Is there any difference between them, tested individually?

While this may not be an acoustics problem, it sure ain't gonna be cured by break in.

Kal
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,651 posts
 
Are you kidding? You cannot expect changes on the order of 15dB from "break in," even if you assume that it will change anything. It is room acoustics and/or setup. Putting the speakers closer is not the issue. It is the relationship of the speakers to room boundaries and the room modes consequent to their dimensions. So, while you are doing a long-term break in, read up on such things. Try www.rivesaudio.com for a start and links.

Kal
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