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Do you think driver “break in” is real?

Do you think “high end” drivers and crossovers typically need a “break in” period before they sound their best?  I ask because, I believe I’ve experienced this first hand in a very significant way. I replaced the tweeters (same exact brand and model as original) in my ACI Sapphire 25 year anniversary edition speakers and for the first week I thought I’d lost my all time favorite speakers. I was depressed!  So I just kept playing them…  finally after a couple weeks, I’m literally stunned and blown away at how incredible these speakers sound. Completely different than the first 30 or 40 hours after I put in the new Scan Speak tweeters. So I say break in period must be real - at least for some drivers. Has anyone else experienced this to a degree that is unmistakeable?  
Crossovers too?  I just rebuilt the crossovers for a pair of ACI Sapphire XL’s (using highest quality components- same values) and so far they sound mediocre. Hoping for the same result as my other Sapphires but after about 20 hours - no noticeable difference - and they do not even sound as good as prior to crossover rebuild. They sound flat, too bright with poor imaging - but for 10 to 15 years they were pretty great sounding speakers. Thoughts on crossover break in?? 
Thanks to anyone who responds!!  

sal1963

Showing 1 response by blisshifi

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blisshifi
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Yes, absolutely. The driver cones are very stiff to start and are designed to flex with the output a bit over time. Usually this takes anywhere from 100 hours to 300 hours to sound best. 

Most crossovers have capacitors that also need approximately 50-100 hours to break in, as well as some time for electrons to flow through any coils.

100 hours seems to be a pretty sweet spot to gauge how something is going to sound, but I’ve heard both drivers and electronics take anywhere from 50-400 hours. My tip for break in is to run Brown noise loops continuously on low volumes, even overnight. They are a bit softer on the highs and will pose minimalrisk on frying tweeters. 

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