Speaker Break In

Behram,

Burn in or Break in is something Audiophiles will argue and have been argueing for years. It will vary from system to system. Its not only your speakers but the cables, amp and even interconnects. There are some speakers that require up to 400hrs of listening for them to really come alive. You will suddenly feel the whole sound somehow opening up. I don`t know how to explain, let some hot shot soundy do that. As a relatively new person in this I can tell you that it is not so subtle but you can definately see and hear the difference.

Toe in is also something I feel is different for everyone. Some like to toe in as much as when you are sitting on your couch between the speaker, you should be able to see only the front of the speakers. I don`t much appreciate that much. I like it toed it just a little.

Lets hear some more opinions on this......

Though it's the movable parts in a speaker that benefit most from the break in (the rubber surrounds etc...) different speakers take different burn in periods. For instance speakers that use Kevlar drivers take a good 100 hours.
As for toe-in though the universal norm is 20 - 30 degrees, I suggest you decide for yourself. (Or let your ears decide for you). Most of us like just enough toe-in to have the main vocals dead centre, but some prefer a wider sounstage even though there's a very big, audible "hole" in the centre... it's all up to you dude.

A lil something on break-in from a fellow poster on another forum:

--------------------------------------------------------------
What you are trying to break in is the driver's suspensions... namely the surrounds and the spiders.

just like a pair of shoes... the parts in a speaker that are designed to move are stiff at first... the more you excercise these moving parts, the more relaxed they will become.

if a speaker cone itself were to "break in" you'd have a crappy speaker. the whole point behind exotic cone materials is to STOP cone distortions without added weight. some cones are made out of aluminum because the material is light and rigid.

once you break a speaker in, the softer surrounds and spiders will allow your cone to move easier and faster.

would you run a marathon in a new pair of leather shoes? no. would you ever give up that well worn pair of shoes that are super comfortable? probably not.

really ANY mechanical device can be improved by breaking it in. that's why many professional contractors run their drills etc. for an hour or so with no load to break the bearings in and get them seated.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Hope it helped

Shahrukh

It's more belief than science I think.

There are equally vociferous arguements for and against.

The POV that I now tend to go with is that it's more about the time it takes for your ear and mind to adjust to the tonality.

While the analogies drawn with a car or a shoe make a point but are not strictly accurate.

Thats my HO

K

As far as burn-in for cables and electronics is concerned, I don't think it makes sense.

Speakers, I do. My reaons for believing are stated above.

If we do a A/B comparison test (preferably blind folded) with two pairs of speakers of same model, one completely new, another with 100-200 hrs run-in...we should be able to tell. So we got a simple method to find out.

But again opinion may differ.

To be frank, I did. The older speakers had a warmer, smoother, more natural sound.

But the point here is to do this testing blind folded Shahrukh.

No, didn't do a blind test.8)
Did it with my pair of Diamond 8.1s (black) and a brand new, fresh-out-of-the-carton silver pair.

So it can also mean black Wharfedale 8.1s' sound better than Silver Wharfedale 8.1s' irrespective of the old/new factor.

Could be. But, keeping Wharfedale's reputation in mind, I seriously doubt it.

New speakers definitely need to be broken in to perform its best. The changes are across the frequency spectrum but most noticeable is the reduction in harshness in the highs, cleaner mids and more defined and open bass. The speaker appears to sound effortless after breaking in. Most speakers will sound congested out of the box. The time needed to break in is speaker dependant.

square_wave schrieb:

New speakers definitely need to be broken in to perform its best. The changes are across the frequency spectrum but most noticeable is the reduction in harshness in the highs, cleaner mids and more defined and open bass. The speaker appears to sound effortless after breaking in. Most speakers will sound congested out of the box. The time needed to break in is speaker dependant.

Agreed.
I have noticed that too. Initially even I was of the impression that break-in is a concept, may not work for speakers. But I have seen live difference between two speakers, one out of the box and the other after 50 odd hours of break-in. Now dont ask me if I was blind folded, I was not but to prove my point I will have to tell you that even my wife could immediately recognize the better sounding speaker (She does'nt know anything about break-in )
What else buddies....

Abhi,
Your wife like any other does know a lot about the phenomenon of break-in. We break-in speakers, they break-in husbands
Unkown to you and all of us...one fine day(maybe after 100hrs or maybe after 1000)you start to sound a bit different(more refined in one or many aspects) than what you did earlier, much to her liking
Think about it !

Manek.

For me, it lasted only 1 hr. After that I sounded exactly like she wanted me to (no high pitches....only smooth low purrs)

Manek, That was the most practical humour I have heard/seen throughout my days at Hifi-forum...

Kya yaar...you hit it so straight, I am floored....

Actually I am thinking what you have said....Man you woke me up but I am helpless....

We are all helpless my friend abhi,
continuously tweaked to suit their changing(fickle)tastes and can do very little about it

Cheraz, wise man you are for not resisting for too long but one must resist at the begining for an hour or two but no more, after all we are men and have to put up a brave front and show that we are no pushovers !

Compliance does not come easy

Manek.

Drivers changing attributes after breaking-in is scientifically proven. Vikash, a member from Bangalore in www.diyaudio.com (is he here?), posted the variation in Thiel-Small parameters of drivers at successive intervals of burning-in:

http://www.vikash.info/audio/audax/break-in.asp

http://www.vikash.info/audio/xls10/

But whether this shift in Thiel-Small parameters results in an audible difference, is an altogether different question. The link below discusses the phenomenon of driver break-in. It concludes that variation / inconsistency at the production level results in an audible difference, more than any post-manufacturing breaking-in.

http://www.audioholi...s/SpeakerBreakIn.php

In case of amps, tube amps may be needing breaking-in to give optimum performance because of the nature of technology involved. But with other amps, there is no scientific proof which says that breaking-in results in measurable difference (not to speak of audible difference) in any parameter.

Break-in of cables & interconnects? Neigh....!!!

Nope..Vikash is from Great Britain.
He actually came up with the search facility for projects on diyaudio.com. the website is hosted by 'Planet10' dave from canada.
Vikash also designed the website for BrianGT..chipamp.com.
Cheers,
Benkenobi

There are burn-in Cd's available in Singapore which makes things easy !

there are many break in CDs from Chesky records to XLO..even the Sterephile discs are good..

But the most cost effective way is to use music you play regularly. most of the above are just Sine wave or White/Pink noise signals ! After all that is the Music you are going to play on it !
(During Speaker breakin sessions I used, when I am not in the house, I prefer Stravinsky's Rites of Spring which can have some mean transients between high and Low Frequencies). you can downlod many of these from the Net in MP3 form if you want. also throw in some Chemical Bros Bass stuff if you want !

(I have the XLO disk and honestly do not know if it really makes a difference !)

Using a CD to burn in speakers is a very very expensive option; Simply because it leads to a lot of ware & tare of your CD Player - tracks played on repeat for hours at end.
The transport mechanism goes for a toss !!

I have lost a TEAC CD Player this way.

Therefore I suggest that you connect a Radio to your pre / power amp or to your intergrated amp. That way the radio keeps on playing & your speakers get 'burnt in'

Try to do this for 3 to 5 yours a day. In 2 to 3 different sessions. That way your amplifier too gets some rest.

If you have an I-Pod, then that too could be used. But I strongly suggest against the use of a CD Player.

Regards,

BHAGWAN69

we are talking 50-60 ,hours at max .am a bit surprised (And worreid) that the CDP should not be able to do that.

I mean as a first take if a CDP fails to run that much then it is not really a good choice (I had run my NAD for close to 36 hours continously..thankfully it did not give in)