In Reply to: Speaker break-in thoughts... posted by pkats on April 12, 2007 at 06:56:47:
IMHO "break-in" is a myth. To think a mfg. would allow a speaker/ amp/ cable (laughable) or cd player to leave the factory sounding "edgy and strident" simply because running current through it for a few dozen hours posed too many production challenges is, to my thinking, ridiculous. If 30 hours of run time assured a better-sounding product upon start-up, rest assured they would do it.Alas, manufacturers feed the break-in myth to because it is a way of avoiding rampant returns by customers who are furious that their new cable, amp, pre-amp, speaker, etc.. didn't "totally transform" their system as the hype suggested. "..Well, Mr. Smith, just give it a few hundred hours - the imaging will sharpen, resolution will improve and it's PRAT will certainly peak by then!"
They know full well that long before a few hundred hours have passed, the customer will have resigned themselves to the new purchase, and will probably have re-read (a dozen times) the glowing review(s) that led them to buy the product in the first place.
As for speakers, consider this: I bought a pair of PSB Alphas for my office. I hooked up both speakers, but played music only through the left (use the volume knob to attenuate the right) overnight. The next morning I set the speakers next to each other, hit the "mono" switch and switched b/w the two. Not me, nor my wife could hear one speck of difference b/w the two speakers.
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Follow Ups
- A myth that Mfgs perpetuate because... - hifi heretic 11:55:33 04/14/07 (11)
- If 30 hours of run time assured a better-sounding product upon start-up, rest assured they would do it. - hukkfinn 13:34:57 04/20/07 (0)
- Here's a thought.... - Ozzy 10:06:20 04/15/07 (0)
- its not a myth breakin is not the same for every transducer - Kloss 06:26:58 04/15/07 (0)
- Your reasoning and experiment are faulty - madisonears 16:02:40 04/14/07 (7)
- I run in loudspeakers for 100 hours - Kloss 06:35:48 04/15/07 (0)
- Agreed - Craiger56 17:24:29 04/14/07 (2)
- Re: Agreed - hifi heretic 17:37:12 04/14/07 (1)
- Re: Agreed - Craiger56 23:39:45 04/14/07 (0)
- Re: Your reasoning and experiment are faulty - hifi heretic 16:58:43 04/14/07 (2)
- There's no converting a heretic, but here goes... - madisonears 19:01:21 04/14/07 (0)
- Gallo was REASONABLY honest about break-in requirements of their Ref 3s. - Dave Pogue 17:18:47 04/14/07 (0)