What kind of speakers are you talking about?
Break In Failed
There is a new set of speakers on the way and after looking for tips on speaker break in, the topic hits left me smirking.
Good advice like face the speakers and wire one out of phase, use heavy blankets and leave on 24-7 for weeks.
The amusing part was exercising them at ~90dB for excursion during away hours. My current speakers have seen that level in my apartment for maybe an hour in the years since owning them. Did I fail at break in protocol?
I anticipate feedback recommendations of connect and enjoy the music after leaving them on for a couple of weeks at my normal listening levels, which has served me well in the past.
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I wouldn’t worry excessively. Most folks have speakers for a decade or more. I would just play them 24 x 7 at a volume that doesn’t bother anyone. Yes, muffling them, and running them out of phase can maybe reduce the breakin a little. Maybe I am too laid back, but, within a month they should be in good shape, you can experience the stages of breakin and hopefully you will be enjoying them along the way.. I have broken in dozens of devices. The more you experience it the more you learn. I would look at this as an opportunity to learn… it’s more fu. That way. |
I appreciate your positive approach to this experience. Thanks @ghdprentice |
Agree, difference in performance after break in is minimal and often overblown here by folks experiencing buyers remorse and/or their ears adjusting to a component change. Most significant change happens within 50 hours, after that minimal improvement. When I play golf I like to walk the course. It takes longer and requires more effort but I get to experience the way the course unfolds as I get closer to my ball. Same here—enjoy the slight incremental improvements that break in can bring and get to know your speakers the way you watch a child grow into an adult. As is often said here—enjoy the journey! |
In my experience, break-in time depends a lot on the types of capacitors that are used in the crossovers. The drivers themselves generally loosen up in 20 hours or so, but the capacitors can take much longer. Many film caps, such as some of the large copper foil in oil caps, can take hundreds of hours, and I've heard (never tried them) that Teflon dialectic caps can take up to 1000 hours. |
How can anyone optimize loudspeaker performance within 20 minutes? Figuring out preferences for room placement, toe-in and tilt takes a little bit of time. The drivers (and surrounds) need time to loosening up and the crossover components also need run-in time. A bad loudspeaker won't get transformed into a good loudspeaker, but a good loudspeaker can blossom into a really good loudspeaker with a little time and effort. Personally, I swear by the XLO Burn-In track, but there other methods. |
I admit not knowing much scientifically but agree with the out-of-phase and face-to-face method, having used it a time or two. I will say that the Scansonic MB 2.5s I bought years ago most surely did need a good mechanical break-in of the drivers and it was not an hour or two, more like many hundreds before sounding their best. Other Raidho and Scansonic owners have reported the same. I am with @ghdprentice in that this can be an enjoyable learning experience for you. Have fun with those new loudspeakers!
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Once setup consider vibration control. If you get this far next steps would be room treatment and DSP: budget better: https://www.mapleshadestore.com/speakerstands.php
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I've used the face to face, out of phase blanket method, very effective. Present speakers make that pretty much impossible, so I've just listened through break in, unless something seriously off break in shouldn't be that difficult. Most noticeable thing I hear during break in of all components and parts substitutions, and I do a lot of the parts substitution thing, is a certain sense of what I'd call 'up tightness'. Excess of attack, lack of sustain or decay, and veiled quality. Over time as things begin to loosen up I hear this sensation of 'blooming', an opening up or relaxing of presentation, this may also include larger sound stage and more dimensional imaging. Sometimes this blooming can be sudden thing, one minute up tight and very next the blooming begins, quite an amazing thing when this happens. Really is very educating to listen through entire burn in. Still, I don't bother with listening through burn in with any component or part prior to amplifier, you can do this silently with signal flowing from source.
Also, I certainly concur with those who believe burn in applies to our ear/brain complex. We ourselves need time to adjust to sometimes very subtle changes in sound quality, over time we develop comfort zone for present sound qualities, changing things brings back analytical mode so we may be overly critical or 'uptight'. |
A few thoughts on the subject: In my experience the only thing that sounds worse new out of the box is a vacuum tube. Do driver manufacturers run new production drivers for hundreds of hours to "break in" before testing, or do they test them right off the assembly line? Do capacitor manufacturers state on their data sheets that hundreds of hours of use are required prior to use in critical filtering or timing circuits in medical or aerospace equipment? If something doesn’t sound right out of the box then it always will. |
Geezus…Blankets, Out of phase wiring, positioning, Seems like a hell of a lotta effort for something your not going to listen to…my question is, how do you even know if all that does anything beneficial if your not listening to the speakers from jump street? Fwiw, enjoy them from day 1 and just leave them playing when not home. edit to add: |
@gs5556 some actually do. When I got mine, the fellow said let em play for a few days when you go to work.
@onhwy61 ^100%^ But they should sound “pretty great” right away. The Mrs says, “They sound good… stop moving them around.” If they don’t sound pretty good right away, then they probably aren’t. |
Agree! Why worry about break-in? Just play them. It’s fun to hear them loosen up. That being said, the only speakers I heard palpable change are my Tannoys. All other speakers I ’sorta’ heard a difference? Tannoys with their hard surrounds are all over the place for at least a few months..100+ hours. |
my integrated is audibly hard sounding for the first 10-15 minutes, but speakers i've owned generally inching them around the room and playing with toe in is how I break them in. I've never heard a dramatic change in sound. The reason the speakers we hear at shops sound so good compared to when we get them home is the rooms they're in. If you like the sound at the shop pay the dealer to come over and set up your system for you, that is if you're in it for high fidelity. I not a dealer, just a frustrated customer who's never been able to get demo results at home. |
Always a fun topic :) IMO, something happens, but it’s not a mechanical “hard data” point in the life of your loudspeaker. In my most recent experience, I’m lucky owner of a pair of Wharfedale Heritage 85 Lintons. They are a very interesting set of speakers - a big baffle warm sound with better technology that their’70s ancestors. They are not as transparent as many high end audiophile speakers now available, but the color they bring to almost every style of music is pleasant and controlled. Tough to beat at $1,200 delivered. But, to the point of the thread, my Lintons have steadily improved in terms of our enjoyment over a month of ownership without any special break-in. Three things are involved. First, the gradual refinement of their location (their rear ported 8” woofer bass response is best at about 20 inches from the rear wall and their polite tweeters and 5” mid range need a little toe-in to help them keep up with the sub-tones. Second, we just “hear more” from them as we listen. Third, I took the time to flag a number of cuts with distinct well-recorded intros that I play about once week since we settled on a set up. The resolution is definitely better over time with these sweet mid-century modern mahogany finished throwbacks.
Enjoying music is the goal and, regardless of our collective understanding of the engineering involved, speaker performance is honestly subjective. We’re thrilled with our speaker choice simply because they are drawing us to listen more often.
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