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In Reply to: RE: Not DO, But WHY Speakers Require A "Break-In" Period posted by andy19191 on June 05, 2007 at 09:47:54
Andy19191: You have explained your experiment and the basis for your conclusions which is good. Indeed the conclusion you have drawn about one variable is not logical in the presence of the other variables. You seem to know this even though you protest. That is fine, your beliefs are your beliefs and you have not, as far as I can tell, attempted to be misleading.
TG1954: I appreciate your acknowledging that at the very least I am tesing different things. Most poeple here on both sides of the coin have extremely strong POVs, but seldom do any of them talk about testing anything. I'd like you to explain what all these other variables you believe exist are. As I see it when using the exact same recording and the exact same system there's only one real variable, the broken in vs the non-broken in speaker. So no I don't seem to know what you're speaking about as you say and hence my protest. Nor have I attempted to be misleading which you agree with. But why would I be misleading? I have nothing to gain in this debate, no one does. Whether or not speakers break in or not won't affect my system, nor would it affect speaker sales as far as I can tell.
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TG1954: I personally believe that most speakers are basically optimally broken in anywhere from 50-100 hrs, of course it could take more of less hours as well.
Andy19191: What is the basis for this? Current practice is a lot closer to 50-100 seconds.
TG1954: That's your opinion Andy, but many speaker manufacturers seem to disagree with you as witnessed by these remarks taken from their owners manuels.
THIEL Break-In - The CS3.7s, like most speakers, require a period of playing before they perform optimally. The time required depends on how loudly the speakers are played; more time is required if played softly, less if played loudly. At least 50 hours at moderately loud levels are required before the speaker is performing near optimum. You should notice even more improvement after 100 hours of playing.
MARTIN-LOGAN Break-In - When you first begin to play your Summit speakers, they will sound a bit bass shy. This is due to the high quality, long-life components used in our woofer. Our custom made, butyl surround woofer requires approximately 72 hours of break-in at 90 dB (moderate listening levels) before any critical listening. The break-in requirements of the crossover components (and, to a lesser degree, the stator) are equivalent.
DYNAUDIO Break-In - The moving parts of a newly manufactured Confidence loudspeaker have been acoustically checked after production, but nevertheless are not as flexible as they need to be for optimum results to be realized. The higher the quality of any driver system, the more demanding the loudspeaker will be regarding time for running-in the system. A newly unpacked Dynaudio loudspeaker therefore requires several weeks running/playing to reach its optimum performance capability. After that period, a couple of minutes before every listening session will be helpful to ‘warm up’ the loudspeakers.
ENERGY Break-In - It is VITAL that your new Veritas i™ Series speakers be allowed to break In properly before you perform any precise set up procedures, system adjustments, and before you play them at higher volume levels. The best method of performing the break in is to play a full range musical passage at a moderate level as long as possible. Utilizing the repeat function on your CD or DVD player can assist greatly. Optimum sound will not be achieved until approximately 100 hours of playing time. After break-in, the volume level can be increased. Do not play the speakers at higher levels until the break in process has been completed. The transducers need to “loosen up”, and until this occurs, damage can result to the transducers.
Andy what advantage is there for a speaker manufacturer to tell a client in so many words Our speakers won't sound as good as they can for 100 hrs or so? If this was an audiophile myth as objectivists would have us believe wouldn't it be a marketing advantage for a speaker manufacturer to proclaim: Unlike many other speakers our Ecstasy speakers sound great right out of the box with no break-in period required? Afterall objectivists are always telling us audiophiles hear what they're told to hear, no? So if a person read that statement in their Ecstasy speaker manuel they should hear the speakers sound great out of the box, no?
I believe this disclosure about the speaker's break-in period by these different speaker companies (and I choose some fairly expensive speakers) illustrates they know their speakers require a break-in period. Therefore they don't want their clients who heard fully broken in demo models in an audio salon to be disappointed by the sound of a new unbroken-in speaker added to their system at home.
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TG1954: So how is anyone supposed to remember what the speaker sounded like 50-100 hrs earlier?
Andy19191: The way it is usually done is to measure and/or record it.
TG1954: The problem with your idea is that once the speaker has broken-in it sounds different. So playing the original recording of that speaker unbroken-in on that now broken in speaker will sound different just because it's broken in. What I propose as a possible better test would be to take two identical sets of new unbroken-in speakers and play one song on both to see if they sound the same. If they do, disconnect one set and leave it next to the pair breaking in (that way they're both exposed to the same effects of heat, humidity, sunlight etc) Now continue playing the other set for 50-100hrs. After 50-100hrs reconnect the set that was disconnected and play the same song on both. If they now sound different, it has to be due to the one pair being broken in, because they originally sounded the same and the ONLY thing that has changed is one pair was played for 50-100hrs.
Thetubeguy1954
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