look, i'm really not an objectivist so please don't take it so. but when people make claims of 1k hours with no backup except golden ears, i have serious doubts (especially with speaker driver manufacturers telling you otherwise). considering most people here on a'gon swap out gear in their system at an expedient/alarming rate, there really is no viable comparison after such time!
and when a speaker manufacturer makes claims, its even worse as why would i want to buy a speaker i can't enjoy to the fullest for a year? that's crazy!
i personally have noticed speaker break-in---maybe 48 hours tops running (for tight, large bass drivers such as those in my Wilsons when broken in with heavy bass music). i continually run in my speakers for that amount of time at high levels, so perhaps i'm in the minority.
i personally feel the 400-500-1000 hours stuff is for dealers to make sure they don't get gear returned as it hasn't been in the customer's environment for very long and there ears haven't adjusted to it in there system.
and yes, a simple frequency sweep at hour 1 and hour 1000 would be excellent (and easy with Rat Shack SPL meter and freeware)---after all, that is what the designer uses to relay what he wants you to hear!! as JA often states, it is good to relay what you hear and what you see on measurements---the combination is attractive to many audiophiles such as myself. i try not to rely on one or the other 100%.
one more thing--pro audio seems to be much more into measurements than audiophiles. interesting phenomenon considering that is what people record/master stuff with.
cheers, and like you--i mean no disrespect at all.
