Question re: Break-in of speakers...

[azsyno]

Lots of discussion on breaking in speakers - here and on other high-end audio forums. Seems that the majority of audiphiles believe in the process and the return that proper breaking in can offer.

The trouble I have is that I've never known whether or not breaking in speakers is empirically quantified and measurable. It would seem that with the ability for recording engineers to measure all that is 'measurable' we would have evidence that sound quality is affected ie., different, after hours of usage.

I throw this question to you... Are the effects of proper break in measurable and if so, what characteristics of sound quality are most changed after hours and hours of use?

Any thoughts? It seems that there would be differences... but for the life of me I am not sure that my ear (or any other, for that matter) would ever hear these differences and thus be able to characterize them with accuracy.

Just food for thought... what say you?

Oh - and my 703's sound great with my 1080. 8)

Have a great day.

[goffriller]

I bought the 802ds two weeks ago. I noticed the break in :no question about it. The sound began by being a tiny bit brittle, and became perfect and warm about 8 hours of use later.
G

[worldys]

it makes sense that the drivers and surrounds will become more compliant with use and therefore sound more responsive after a break in period, thre is probably empirical evidence for this since it is based on phsyical changes in the rubber of surrounds and in the heating of voice coils, try a google search

but a detractor might say that the listener simply gets used to the sound, so after a period of time, the listener thinks the speakers sound better because his perception has adjusted to the new speakers he just dumped loads of cash on

if you believe the latter, you probably also believe most cable marketing is a load of BS

i go with the former, otherwise where would be the fun :W

[Mitchell]

I also have 703's and a 1080 and I remember a big difference in the sound after a few weeks.
I do not believe it is my ears getting used to it.
I had been listining to some of the same music for 25 years and I still notice the differences in the music I have grown up with between my car, my home and other places I hear it. What I mean is that when a part of the music suddenly starts to become more predominant than I was used to, such as a symbol becoming more pronounced or a sax sounding more raspy, it hits me immediately since I know the music so well for so many years. So when my 703's began to break in I suddenly started hearing things I had not heard before on any system including my own - until that day. I bet it is measurable but it is subtle. Somethimes as I have said before in these forums the systemm starts to bring out the flaws in the recording.
Old Led Zep, even the remasterd ones start to show "cheesy production".
Often the production sounds thin. Good recordings seemed to get better with the break in.
Just my opinion.

[Karma]

HI azsyno,
My 805S, HTM4S and SCMS all required a break-in period. Even my dual ASM800's seem to have changed. One of these was purchased new and the other used. The new one now sonically matches the used one. Presumably, the used one was already broken in which accounts for the fact that I noticed no change with it.

Since these speakers went in to my system at different times separated by weeks or months, the break-in was noticible. I'm not sure the SCMS (the newest additions) are yet broken in. The break-in yields smoother treble and improved integration between the tweeter and the mid/woofer. The midrange also mellowed and filled out. I would not call any of these changes extreme. But the total effect is a more pleasant speaker to listen to especially at high volumes.

If the 805S is any indication, I would estimate 50 hours or several weeks of hard listening will do the job for the 805S series drivers. Most of the change occured in the first 10 hours followed by reducing change. My dealer warned that it would take 10 hours. I think it takes more.

Do not complain. My Martin Logan CLSIIA electrostatics in my main system required over 400 hours before I noticed no further change. The change in the sound was much more radical than with my B&W's. 400 hours is a large percentage of the life of my tube amps. So, I did the break-in using a solid state amp. That's a lot of listening!!! In fact, I didn't. I just let them rip while I was at work during the day. Definitely a good strategy. Ah, but it was worth it. :T

Sparky