Breaking In a new set of Speakers

MellowTone · 15th July 2006, 02:46 PM

Hi everyone, I am now near the completion of my first set of diy speakers and was wondering the best situation for breaking in.

I have heard it takes a good 10 to 20 hours to break in a set of speakers, is this true?

Also is it best to break them in loud, and if so how loud, or is it better to start off soft and turn it up every few hours?

What sort of sounds are best to play through them? Cheers, Nic.

Vikash · 15th July 2006, 05:14 PM

Just play your music and enjoy them. There's no need to force the 'break-in'.

Rocky · 16th July 2006, 02:57 AM

Connect them to the radio if you have one. Let them play background music while you are away. That speeds up the process.

DigitalJunkie · 16th July 2006, 03:48 AM

My father just got a pair of Maggie MMG's,and then left his apartment to go to a new job in California,so i've been watching his place..
I left the radio on when I wasn't there,fairly low level and it did indeed help break in the Maggies..

Other tricks I use are playing Prodigy and other "fast paced/insane" type stuff.Crank it up for a little bit,and give the speakers a workout.

leonrocks · 16th July 2006, 07:19 AM

You can put the speakers face to face and wire one of them out of phase. To get good cancellation you will need a mono signal, so that both speakers recieve exactly the same signal and cancel more completely. You can then turn up the volume while you're out without annoying your neighbours. With a music signal speakers may take weeks to break in.

Geek · 16th July 2006, 11:18 AM

I used 15 hours of 15Hz at Xmax for my FR125's, but that was for testing T/S reasons. Playing them daily at about 100mW power, it took I'd say 200 hours before they settled in to what my ears said "from great to super!"

But, technicalities aside, Vikash is correct, IMO

Salas · 16th July 2006, 03:54 PM

I wire them oposite polarity using mono, I also cover them with a blanket and I pump up the volume for 24h.

MellowTone · 18th July 2006, 09:16 AM

Thanks for the help guys, I'm too lazy to bother with reversing polarities and getting a mono signal so I think i'll probably just do what Vikash said, and i'll play them while i'm out of the house too. Cheers, Nic.

auplater · 18th July 2006, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by psychocow21
Thanks for the help guys, I'm too lazy to bother with reversing polarities and getting a mono signal so I think i'll probably just do what Vikash said, and i'll play them while i'm out of the house too. Cheers, Nic.

I had some speakers back in college that I threw out the 3rd floor window... but they just broke... didn't break-in per se...

I've never personally experienced speaker break in... other than my own ears becoming accustomed to the sound.

In fact, until some of my successful recent projects, I've found a sort of reverse break in phenomena (break-out?) wherein I build/buy new speakers, amps, etc., think they sound marvelous for a few months until I read more about cables/TIM/IM/whatever and think "geez, maybe there's something to this..." and have to move on to something better, tweak, etc.

Curse of the DIY-er...

auplater

Pano · 18th July 2006, 08:07 PM

No one here is saying what happens to a driver during break-in.
That would seem a rather important point for tuning a system.

15th July 2006, 02:46 PM	#1
MellowTone diyAudio Member Join Date: Jun 2006	Breaking In a new set of Speakers Hi everyone, I am now near the completion of my first set of diy speakers and was wondering the best situation for breaking in. I have heard it takes a good 10 to 20 hours to break in a set of speakers, is this true? Also is it best to break them in loud, and if so how loud, or is it better to start off soft and turn it up every few hours? What sort of sounds are best to play through them? Cheers, Nic. __________________ I Reject Your Reality And Substitute My Own - Adam Savage, Mythbuster

15th July 2006, 05:14 PM	#2
Vikash diyAudio Moderator Emeritus Join Date: May 2003 Location: UK	Just play your music and enjoy them. There's no need to force the 'break-in'. __________________ "The human mind is so constituted that it colours with its own previous conceptions any new notion that presents itself for acceptance." - J. Wilhelm. (But I still think mine sounds better than yours.)

16th July 2006, 02:57 AM	#3
Rocky diyAudio Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Kongsberg/Oslo	Connect them to the radio if you have one. Let them play background music while you are away. That speeds up the process. __________________ --- Impossible is nothing

16th July 2006, 07:19 AM	#5
leonrocks diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2006	Break in You can put the speakers face to face and wire one of them out of phase. To get good cancellation you will need a mono signal, so that both speakers recieve exactly the same signal and cancel more completely. You can then turn up the volume while you're out without annoying your neighbours. With a music signal speakers may take weeks to break in.

18th July 2006, 09:16 AM	#8
MellowTone diyAudio Member Join Date: Jun 2006	Thanks for the help guys, I'm too lazy to bother with reversing polarities and getting a mono signal so I think i'll probably just do what Vikash said, and i'll play them while i'm out of the house too. Cheers, Nic. __________________ I Reject Your Reality And Substitute My Own - Adam Savage, Mythbuster


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16th July 2006, 03:48 AM	#4
DigitalJunkie diyAudio Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Portland,Oregon Blog Entries: 4	My father just got a pair of Maggie MMG's,and then left his apartment to go to a new job in California,so i've been watching his place.. I left the radio on when I wasn't there,fairly low level and it did indeed help break in the Maggies.. Other tricks I use are playing Prodigy and other "fast paced/insane" type stuff.Crank it up for a little bit,and give the speakers a workout.

16th July 2006, 11:18 AM	#6
Geek diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2004	I used 15 hours of 15Hz at Xmax for my FR125's, but that was for testing T/S reasons. Playing them daily at about 100mW power, it took I'd say 200 hours before they settled in to what my ears said "from great to super!" But, technicalities aside, Vikash is correct, IMO

16th July 2006, 03:54 PM	#7
Salas diyAudio Chief Moderator Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Athens-Greece	I wire them oposite polarity using mono, I also cover them with a blanket and I pump up the volume for 24h.

18th July 2006, 08:07 PM	#10
Pano diyAudio Moderator Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: North Carolina Blog Entries: 4	No one here is saying what happens to a driver during break-in. That would seem a rather important point for tuning a system. __________________ Take the Speaker Voltage Test!

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