That's actually quite strange. Car woofers typically use synthetic rubber surrounds, and polymer or metal cones, and these would revert to their production state after cooling down again, so any break-in would have zero effect except on the spider which is made of impregnated cloth, and that only takes a few minutes to break-in, so that really tells me that Rockford et al doesn't test their drivers before shipping them at all.
For pro driver which use almost exclusively organic materials however, such as (coated) paper cones, impregnated cloth spider and surrounds, breaking in can take several hours depending on the driver. And the changes that occur during that time are permanent. Most pro driver manufacturers do this breaking in in-house though, and measure the drivers before shipping. Many manufacturers even provide an individual test result and measurement for each specific driver that they ship.
Please note that breaking in is also an incorrect term as it suggests there is a specific procedure you must follow. There isn't. It would not matter if you just play music at regular levels or used a test signal. Only the time it will take will vary as optimized test signals are better at stressing the driver than music signals. So a break in period that would last an hour with test signals may take several days with music signals.
For pro driver which use almost exclusively organic materials however, such as (coated) paper cones, impregnated cloth spider and surrounds, breaking in can take several hours depending on the driver. And the changes that occur during that time are permanent. Most pro driver manufacturers do this breaking in in-house though, and measure the drivers before shipping. Many manufacturers even provide an individual test result and measurement for each specific driver that they ship.
Please note that breaking in is also an incorrect term as it suggests there is a specific procedure you must follow. There isn't. It would not matter if you just play music at regular levels or used a test signal. Only the time it will take will vary as optimized test signals are better at stressing the driver than music signals. So a break in period that would last an hour with test signals may take several days with music signals.
The fact that manufacturers include recommendations like that as part of their marketing spiel doesn't make it real.
I'm fully buying the fact that T-S parameters change as the speakers break in. A friend of mine is super particular about his speakers (dipoles with active crossover). He reports changes in driver parameters causing him to re-tweak the XO as the drivers broke in. It's conceivable that those changes were audible.
~Tom
I used to have a Polk Audio MM1040 (a current product). This is an excerpt from their manual,
at moderate levels
I do believe that it did in fact seem to improve by becoming smoother and requiring slightly less power to acheive same felt bass. I do believe that as the motor broke in, or rather loosened up a bit, it took a little less power to get exciting. Now the fact is I did not measure anything so all I have to support my claim is my opinion, no data, so take that for what it worth.
ENGLISH
PRECONDITIONING PERIOD
Mobile Monitor Subwoofers will achieve even greater
performance once they are thoroughly broken in. To break
in your new MM Subwoofers, play 20 to 30 hours of music
PRECONDITIONING PERIOD
Mobile Monitor Subwoofers will achieve even greater
performance once they are thoroughly broken in. To break
in your new MM Subwoofers, play 20 to 30 hours of music
at moderate levels
I do believe that it did in fact seem to improve by becoming smoother and requiring slightly less power to acheive same felt bass. I do believe that as the motor broke in, or rather loosened up a bit, it took a little less power to get exciting. Now the fact is I did not measure anything so all I have to support my claim is my opinion, no data, so take that for what it worth.
The new Rockford P3 series are 600 watts RMS and 1200 peak, unless using the shallow mount which are 300 watts RMS and 600 watts peak. There is no reason they should have smoked with 300 watts RMS going to them. I have ran Rockford subs for the last 20 years and never smoked one with smoke coming out. I have blown them intentionally by over powering them but they do make a great sub capable of handling tons of abuse.
Better check out that amp and the wiring that your friend did on the subs. Make sure the polarity was correct for series and parallel.
Better check out that amp and the wiring that your friend did on the subs. Make sure the polarity was correct for series and parallel.
In some drivers, a short warm-up period is far more noticeable than an extended break-in. My findings involve woofers only and it includes removing myself from the listening environment for the warm up period to reduce the acclimation effect.
Start with a cold system, just like if you came home from work and put on an album at a decently high volume so you can test the woofer (let's say 1-10 watts in your average system), listen to song 1, leave the room, away from the music, leave the album playing for 30 or so minutes. No outside interferences allowed. No beer, no food, no phone calls, nothing to change your mood.
Return to the room, replay the first song.
That's how I come to my findings.
You're allowed to argue all you want but that's not what this thread is about is it?
Start with a cold system, just like if you came home from work and put on an album at a decently high volume so you can test the woofer (let's say 1-10 watts in your average system), listen to song 1, leave the room, away from the music, leave the album playing for 30 or so minutes. No outside interferences allowed. No beer, no food, no phone calls, nothing to change your mood.
Return to the room, replay the first song.
That's how I come to my findings.
You're allowed to argue all you want but that's not what this thread is about is it?
For me, a "warm up" period seems to only apply to tweeters that have fluid in the magnetic gap. Crazy? Probably!
I will say this, that probably runs contrary to my previous post - I have been using four Peerless 831727 ten inch woofers in my home theater setup for well over ten years and I think they sound the same as they did when new.
I will say this, that probably runs contrary to my previous post - I have been using four Peerless 831727 ten inch woofers in my home theater setup for well over ten years and I think they sound the same as they did when new.
Well ever since I got into audio. I was always told it was better to "break in" / "tune" your system. I was just making a vivid observation...I mean it isn't required..but I'd always recommend it because 1. It gives your brand new subs a moment to get use to the amp. 2. You can catch clippings and other stuff by doing this. 3. Some subs play better...in a long term. Old saying..the more you baby something..the longer it'll last. I mean you wouldn't buy a new car and rag on it hardcore. You would baby that car...its how I look at speakers.
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lol, i would most definitely buy a new car and rag on it hard-core..... that is actually the best way to seat the rings on a fine hone, with proven test results. i even tried to get the dealership to send me a 2011 camro right of the line that had not been driven the 7 miles that they all get, so i could put it under a hard load myself. that being said, i was just providing an example, that manufacturers do suggest break-in. yes, it does loosen up a bit, and i would rather it loosen up not under load, since the masses are using foam surrounds, and the pressures can have a greater effect on the first flexing point that is moving, so i can see that a break-in on foam surrounds to be benificial to allow the whole surround and spider to loosen up uniformly, preventing premature formation of weaker areas, and lower frequencies can allow the spider to do the same, since it does have mass, and can be effected by higher frequencies more. as for the butyl rubber surrounds, i do see warming those up, much like a tweeter, in cold climates, since it really does not like to move or flex when cold...now, this is my opinion and observations, and i don't think there is any real obvious difference in sound quality. every sub is going to break in, and parameters will change a bit from when new, but i'd be willing to bet that the manufacturers specs are mostly taken on a broken in sub. and, another opinion i have- i don't, and never have/will buy into the driver getting used to an amp..... that philosophy just does not make sence, and i have definitely never seen proof
question #1 - Which RF P3?...i'll guess this one..since he claims 300 watts to work with..All P3 series are either dual 2 or 4 ohm (unless they're slims)..
WoofersEtc.com - P3D410 - Rockford Fosgate Punch Stage 3 4-Ohm 10" Subwoofer
Q 2 - which Concept again?...I never heard of em, but i don't see a "ca505" in their line-up...and don't see anything I would tie a couple of new RF subs to...
Mobile Electronics
..I'm with Brandes..he prolly maxed the gain and fried em with some squared off signals.
ps..one more question...did he load them in an enclosure??
Subs can blow with an incorrect box that allows too much travel...bottoming and having dc loads at the end of each stroke, they can also blow with a box that is too small and playing a frequency range that is too high because the coil isn't moving far enough to circulate the hot air out of the assembly. A 300 watt amp may only provide 300 clean undistorted watts but if pushed into clipping may be able to overload the woofers with a dirty dc signal because the woofer is again not moving back and forth to circulate the hot air out of the voice coil assembly.
As far as speaker "break in" goes, I believe that is more of an older technique used to break in the outer foam surround and inferior spiders used in the olden days. Obviously running the speaker at a moderate level for a period of time would situate the surround and spider more evenly in the magnetic axis so that the travel of the cone would be more linear while the wear areas flexed. Nowadays with synthetic rubber surrounds and much better spider materials, I don't believe a break in should be required. The equipment that assembles speakers is also more advanced and aligns the entire assembly more symmetrically. Obviously the T/S parameters may change a hair and you may have to tweak the setup every now and then, so technically you will forever be in a break in period because the structural integrity of the surround and spider will continually change :lol: but it would seem to be a very small gradual change.
As far as speaker "break in" goes, I believe that is more of an older technique used to break in the outer foam surround and inferior spiders used in the olden days. Obviously running the speaker at a moderate level for a period of time would situate the surround and spider more evenly in the magnetic axis so that the travel of the cone would be more linear while the wear areas flexed. Nowadays with synthetic rubber surrounds and much better spider materials, I don't believe a break in should be required. The equipment that assembles speakers is also more advanced and aligns the entire assembly more symmetrically. Obviously the T/S parameters may change a hair and you may have to tweak the setup every now and then, so technically you will forever be in a break in period because the structural integrity of the surround and spider will continually change :lol: but it would seem to be a very small gradual change.
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