Sub Break In

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Hi guys,

I now have my 2 Low Rider 18" Peaveys in 8.5 cubic foot enclosures tuned to 30 Hz. The enclosures are made of 3/4 birch ply that is doubled in the front and rear, with 2 six inch ports that are twelve inches in length each. I'll be powering them with an EP2500 that will be coming tomorrow and I'll use the built in high pass filter at 30Hz, even though I'd much rather do it at something like 25Hz. Now Id just like to know about speaker break in. I plan on playing these things loud, but is that ok to do right out of the box? Should I play like certain frequencies for a certain amount of time or something? Should I worry about loosening up the suspension? Or should I just let em rip and they'll break themselves in over time.

Thanks a bunch.
 
Hey guys,

So I fired up the subs today and theyre pretty much everything I could want. With preliminary tests they are putting out 118db at the listening position about 15 feet away according to the radioshack spl meter. They are so kickass, and I wanna thank all you guys so much for your help. I'll be sure to post some pics once I get them both cosmetically finished within the next few days.
 
It has been my observation that all cosmetic work must be completed before firing up a project. If it's good you won't want to take it apart long enough to finish it up right away and over time you'll get used to what it looks like and that's how it will be for ever and ever. Amen.

Case in point. I built a big old ported box for a Titanic MkIII about a year or so ago and I finished only the front and back thinking I would do something else with the top and sides. It's sitting in the corner of the living room and it's a bear to move so there it stays with a nicely finished front and bare MDF on the top and sides. The lack of finish doesn't affect the sound but every so often I think about finishing it off. I then realize that I would have to live without it for the duration and I can't live with that.

Let's see some pics.
 
Enter that quagmire at your own risk.

I have a friend who writes for a prominent on-line audiophile review website who insists that he can hear the difference between different interconnects when he swaps them out in his system. He believes that if you use cable lifters to keep the wires off the floor that his sound system is improved. He believes that and more that I shudder to reveal. He also believes that you must play white noise through new loudspeakers for up to 200 hours before they are "broken in".

I do not subscribe to his philosophy.
 
Hey guys,

So Ive come to you guys before with the same question and I still havent got it resolved. Im using an ARTCleanbox to convert from RCA to XLR and I'm still getting a buzzing noise when the knob is turned to a moderate listening level and I pause either the CD or DVD or whatever. I tried making my own cables before following diagrams and now I even spent 50 bucks on a device thinking it would clearly solve my problem. There is no such noise through my mains, so its purely the conversion from XLR to RCA and so there isnt a grounding problem with the system. Any ideas? I even pulled out the 2 xlr cables and isolated them from the rest of the cables and its still there. So I just have to live with it? I know others have do it and dont experience and problems whatsoever, so I gotta say Im very confused.

Any help would be much appreciated.
 
Ok so this is going to sound REALLY strange, but heres what Ive found. Turns out that the connection between my DVD player and my TV is whats causing the humming. Not the audio connection, as I have my DVD audio sent straight to the reciever, rather, its the VIDEO connection. If I turn the volume up on the speakers and subs there is absolutely no noise out of them. Then, when i connect a cable (RCA, S-video, or composite) from the video output to the tv input, I get a humming. It does it even if I run the audio cables from the DVD to reciever, and unplug the power cables for the DVD and TV from the wall, and then connect the two I still get a hum. ANY ideas at all?? Im so stumped right now, and so at the moment if I want to watch a DVD I can get the audio fine but once I run a cable from the DVD to TV I get a bad hum.

Please send help!!!
 
How important is this 'running in' business anyhow?

I'd have thought that a decent speaker would have a suspension system stable enough not to change signifcantly with use, but I may be wrong.......

As I understand it, if changes do occur, it would simply increase the compliance very slightly, minutely altering some of the T/S parameters.

I have 4 ancient HH 15" drivers which have had a real caning during their 20 year or so working life, and yet display no discernable change in free air resonance from when new.

I dunno - I await informed answers!
 
So the real reason people have been told to break in a driver is for the purpose of T/S parameter measurements. Well why do you measure T/S? To model response and build a suitable enclosure. But if you're going by factory reccomendations, just dont care, or are expereiced and have EQ you can do reasonably well without measuring T/S

I think I've heard a claim that the spider could become undone without proper break-in but that seems like nonsense... Maybe the voicecoil glue could melt and the coil could become undone? I dont think so. It just doesnt seem like thermal power handling should change much from second 1 of use to day 356.

T/S parameters could change slightly however due to suspension changes within the initial breakin period
 
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