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My first set of Klipsch 2.1's


Fatan

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Hey guys, i just ordered my first ever klipsch speakers. I knew about these for awhile but i saw that amazon had them brand new for $119.00 so i had to get em. I wanted to ask you guys for tips and/or tricks to breaking in these speakers. Thanks guys.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I liked the 2.1's a lot when I tryed them out at a Best Buy a couple of years ago. I will likely look for a set of them when/if my trusty Harman/Kardon Champagne 2.1 speaker system wears out first.

Best of luck with yours, and let us know how they go for you once you've had them for a while...

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  • 3 weeks later...

why shouldn't i use this as the main listening for the house? I'll mainly just be using this for games, movies, and music. How long do should i keep the volume low until i can turn it up and have some real fun? haha.

You could try and see the results, but chances are you will have a quite a bit of trouble hearing dialogue in movies

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  • 4 weeks later...

What are Klipsch 2.1s? You mean Pro Media 2.1s? There is no break-in period for speakers. They can be enjoyed at full volume from day one. Speaker break-in is an urban legend.

Now, if you crank the amp to where it distorts, then you run the risk of blowing speakers no matter how new or old they are. You can ruin a pair of Cornwalls with a one watt amp if you push the amp too hard.

And they aren't made to be used OUTSIDE! The person saying that they don't like cold weather is right. They don't like warm weather either. Warm weather is worse because of the humidity. what am I saying? Don't take your speakers outside! Ever! And if you're blowing midranges, then you're pushing the amp too hard! If it's not loud enough, get a more powerful rig!

Don't blame the speakers for not working when they're being abused. If you want to ruin some speakers, go destroy some Bose or something! LOL

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It only takes ten seconds to make a "permanent" equilibrium change to a drivers performance parameters, which some manufacturers do before shipping their speakers. After that, equilibrium performance will not change unless the speaker happened to sustain damage.

But a speakers FR is dynamic, and speakers performance parameters do change as they are played over time, however the change is temporary, and the driver's performance will return to an equilibrium state once the speaker returns to rest. People who play their speakers for 80 hours over the weekend to "break them in" before doing "critical listening" will indeed find the speakers sound different, but it's a temporary state that will quickly dissapear, and the next morning it will sound "un broken in."

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It only takes ten seconds to make a "permanent" equilibrium change to a drivers performance parameters, which some manufacturers do before shipping their speakers. After that, equilibrium performance will not change unless the speaker happened to sustain damage.

But a speakers FR is dynamic, and speakers performance parameters do change as they are played over time, however the change is temporary, and the driver's performance will return to an equilibrium state once the speaker returns to rest. People who play their speakers for 80 hours over the weekend to "break them in" before doing "critical listening" will indeed find the speakers sound different, but it's a temporary state that will quickly dissapear, and the next morning it will sound "un broken in."

This is a highly debated topic.

I am one who believes there IS a break in period. I have seen it with many speakers... (including 2 pair of Promedia 2.1s). I trust my ears.

So..... If I had a pair I ran for 1.5 years; and then quickly changed over to the new set..... and began listening at the same volume...... (all other factors being the same).... why did the new ones sound much more bland? Now 6 months later, and both systems sound amazingly good for their size..... (Do not hold a candle to the Heresies though)......

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Highly debated is right, and here we go again! My belief is that one's own ear grows accustomed to how its owner's speakers sound, and that the "break in period" is for the ears and not the speakers!

I bought my '77 Cornwalls after several years of having KLF-30s as my main speakers. I thought the Cornwalls sounded muffled and dead in comparison. Part of the problem is I believe that heritage speakers are more room placement sensitive than more modern designs, such as the KLFs. Heritage speakers really need to be in corners so that the woofers can use the walls to extend the bass.

Well, any low frequency cone driver is helped by corner placement, but my KLFs seem to be a bit more forgiving. (WAF is so prevalent these days; hence the reason most modern speakers are towers, reducing the living room footprint, allowing more room for tables to support more useless nick-nacks) [:(]

Once I moved and was able to put the Cornwalls in their proper place, I was astounded at the bass response, and after about a year, hustled my KLF-30s right next to the Cornwalls to perform an A/B audition. This time, the KLFs were to shimmery and bright, and the bass a bit to thumpy for my current tastes. Had I permanently swapped the speakers and peformed another audition in a year, I'd again probably think the Cornwalls were too smooth and unexciting. The fact is, they BOTH sound fantastic, but the KLFs were tuned for a more 90s sound, and the Cornwalls a more jazz-inspired late 50s sound.

There was no KORN in 1957 to play through the CORNwalls; hence, how could Paul and the boys know how to tune their new speaker for that kind of sound?? What is so amazing is that regardless of trend, Paul simply knew SOUND, which is why KORN sounds great on CORNwalls even today!

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During normal use, the Qts and fs of the speakers have shown to measurably return to equilibrium once the speakers are put to rest (Audioholics has an article on this). This is with "well-designed", drivers with modern materials in the last ~7-8 years used in commercial speakers. Some older designs will certainly change over time but this is due to driver detioration (foam surrounds rotting). I can't speak for PC speakers though.

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Very interesting. Although a bit off the original thread, do you know if a woofer from a modern Cornwall would exhibit the same Theile-Small parameters as a vintage one, as what's in my Cornwalls? Would Klipsch sell such replacement drivers, I wonder? You mentioned deteriorating suspensions; my Cornwall has paper suspensions coated with a rubbery substance and still look and sound fine, although I have no idea if the sound has degraded over the years. I did replace the electrolytic caps a few years back...

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Oh yeah, and one of my woofers apparently spent some time in the sun, as the color of the paper has faded, while the woofer in the other speaker looks brand new. I bought these in 2005 from the original owner, but never found out the circumstances surrounding the faded woofer.

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I do believe that we get used to how a speaker sounds.

I also believe that speakers return to the "equilibrium". I just believe that once a speaker has been in use, it quickly "warms up" (lack of a better metaphor) to the good sound it produces after initial break in..... minutes instead of hours.

I also redid my Heresy caps, and saw improvement after hours.... initially, it was quieter than the old caps. (I did one speaker before the other; to compare). 4 months later, and the improvement is real.....

I do not believe everything can be measured, and yes, different people hear things differently. But if my GF hears the difference in my computer speakers after "break in" (non audiophile), this goes quite a ways towards validating what I am hearing.......

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There was no KORN in 1957 to play through the CORNwalls; hence, how could Paul and the boys know how to tune their new speaker for that kind of sound?? What is so amazing is that regardless of trend, Paul simply knew SOUND, which is why KORN sounds great on CORNwalls even today!

I believe PWK's vision was to make a speaker which responds "flat", no brightness, no boomy bass, or bright highs...... Just accurate. I would say that most Klipsch speakers today acheive this; some more than others.....

That being said; marketing does come into play, and many of the newer models were made and marketed for different segments......

I wish I had room for CWs; I am envious.... Your point about our ears adapting to the speaker is valid; I just think it is somewhere in the middle of the 2 theories...... ( Part us getting used to the speakers; part the speakers breaking in when new)......

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