Okay, How Important Is Speaker Break In? (Dynaudio Contour 60i)

@mathiasmingus 

interesting to read your update

sorry if i missed it but what is/are your source components?

@three_easy_payments

hahaha

just like with our ornery half crazy uncles we try to take the good and ignore the bad... 🤭

The normal progression is for cold and new to be harsh and grainy, with most of the dynamics and extension but little of the body and harmonic fullness. This fills in over time, and usually with varying amounts of improved extension at both ends, with the result being both fuller and warmer as well as more detailed, extended and dynamic.

totally agree with mc on this description...

some speakers really demand strong solid state amps to sound their best, tube amps cannot handle them

other speakers thrive on tube amps, presenting more friendly loads and efficiency, but to be as efficient and amp friendly, they sacrifice some performance parameters (while excelling at others)

when one starts out in this hobby it is most important to find the right speaker for your room, your listening, your music - then treat the speaker as the given -- and mate the amp to handle the speaker and deliver the best possible sound from said speaker

as you move along in this hobby and hear what different speakers and amps (as combinations) can do, you start to become more open to changing to different speakers that can in turn be driven by sweeter, more palpable sounding amps (be they tube amps, or lower wattage simpler ss amps)  to deliver a nature of sound you like better

it is an experiential, iterative process

different speakers have different dispersion patterns so can interact with room attributes differently

agree w comments below that modern speakers have accentuated lower treble and upper midrange for better perceived 'presence' - often to the detriment to longer term listenability

system matching is key to make new speakers work... plugging them in where old ones stood is just the starting point

give it 200 hrs of solid playing time at normal volumes, shorter if you play louder