Equipment "breakin" all in our heads?

[hal]

When I hear people discussing the impact of "breakin" on their listening experience I often wonder whether this is not simply dependent upon the time it takes our ears to adjust to a new reality. If you've ever had your ears cleaned out of wax buildup you will notice a very dramatic change in your perception of your own voice and that of other people -- "S"'s sound overly crisp, every rattle of the newspaper is annoying. This lasts for 24-36 hours and then disappears! It's not that our ears get plugged up again, instead we adjust our perception of what we hear and re-equalize everything to a new normal sound. I wouldn't be surprised if a similar thing happens with new equipment. As our brains adapt to the new reality the sound "improves". I'll bet even old equipment goes through a break-in phase when given to a new listener! Comments?

[Burke Strickland]

While a lot of the differences people swear they hear in various equipment probably are psychoacoustic or placebo effects, some equipment actually does "break in". But the extent of that effect varies by type of equipment and make and model (due to design differences and manufacturing techniques). Solid state gear such as power amps may "break in" for about 15 seconds while capacitors initially form their charge, etcetera, and from then on, unless the equipment is defective, there should be no real change in their performance. Other kinds of equipment may take longer. For instance, with some speakers, the drivers "loosen up" with extended play and the frequency range extends. This is measurable with instruments that are not subject to changeable “human perception".

Since I was a bit skeptical about "break in", but had been advised to do it with my speakers, I measured my Magnepans with an SPL meter and test tones immediately upon setup but before the "break in" procedure began and then repeated the tests after the recommended “break in” time. The SPL meter measured response that went about 10 hz lower in the bass at useable volume (IOW was registering at the same "reference" level all the way down to that frequency).

Burke
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[Danbry39]

Good topic Hal.

Having spent the last few days breaking in speakers with a minimum 60 hour recommended break in period, I, like Burke, strongly believe that break in does change the sound. With speakers, drivers, especially the bass, need to stretch a bit to perform optimally.

During my particular instance, I compared certain sounds on specific recordings right off the bat and returned to these same recordings many hours later to hear if the sound had changed, to catch things like soundstage, piano, vocals, brass, drums, etc, and, while there might have been some psychoaccoustics going on, most definitely changes did occur and, given what I want out of a speaker, the changes were very significant to me personally.

A lot of people would validly point out that the time lapse between the initial and subsequent testing on my part is very inaccurate, which is probably true. I also wouldn't deny the possibility that, over time, one becomes acclimated to a speaker's sonic footprint. Still, some of the changes were pretty noticable.

I will say that this would vary from speaker to speaker depending on things such as the types of drivers being used.




Keith

[Lex]

While some psychoacoustic adjustments can occur when listening to new gear, or we become unsentisized to the sounds were used to, that doesn't change the fact that break in with various components can be very real.

1. speakers
2. tubes on tube amps
3. Internal wiring
4. cables
5. Possibly transistors, capacitors, resistors, etc...

Like Danbry said, amplifiers technically break in every time you play them unless the amplifier is kept "warm" in a suspended state of standby. Even then, when full power is applied, the break in process takes some time before the amp sounds it's best, EVERY time you turn it on.

Lex

[Burke Strickland]

Some people distinguish between the "warm up" period necessary to get to optimal operating state each time you turn on a piece of gear and a one-time initial "break in" which fundamentally changes its physical characteristics (as opposed to the operating condition) of the gear. And others still claim it's all in our heads. (But that's just an opinion, not "god" talking.) :>)

Burke
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[Lex]

I realize that myself Burke. My point was to illustrate that sound can change in a component, that technically is warming up, but it reflects a change in state due to an amount of time required to reach optimal performance. Similar concept, even though different than a 1 time change occuring due to break in.

Lex

[Jeff Hartford]

Read a very erudite review of the Denon 2900 where the reviewer laughed at people evaluating the unit right out of the box. He noted a very obvious evolution of the product sonically over a three week period. Fantasy perhaps, but he sounded so convincing with that British accent.....

Jeff

[LarryB]

There's an article in the most recent edition of Hi Fi + in which the author was unable to measure any changes in a speaker (B&W 805, if memory serves) before and after break-in.

Larry

[craigdcan]

I suppose there is no real answer, but Paul Barton(PSB) has done several measurements and has come up empty, claiming that there is no difference after "break-in". Respect his opinion, or not, I think a good deal of it is in our heads. Just like anything else....once you've had something for a few years, you like it more than the first day. Once you own something you are guilty of POO(pride of ownership), even though you own this product because you chose it against the competition.

While I could never give a definitive answer, I would like to use this to say that "measurements aren't everything"....