'Broken In' Speakers -- Fact or Fiction?

[BlueMonk]

Ok, forgive me if this topic has been beat to death in the past. I recently upgraded my RF-3's to 7's. The former were my first experience in real speakers. I do remember starting to appreciate the 3's more after about a month. But I never considered that they needed to be used a bit before they were at their peak. I have since seen some references on this site about speakers needing to be 'broken in.'

Now, three weeks after getting my 7's, they are sounding even better. Of course, I am not sure that this is not just in my imagination.

So I have few questions that have been puzzling me:

1. Do speakers really improve after being used some? I am really interested in why this would occur.

2. If they do improve, do they also degrade with more use? If so, why are there so many fans of old speakers on this site? It would seem that they would be worn out.

[Deang]

Two things are happening:

1) The capacitors in the crossovers are burning in, as well as all of the wire, including that which makes up the voicecoils.

2) Your ear/brain are also getting used to the sound.

All together -- does take about a month or so to "relax" and smooth out.

[arena]

some argue that the seals/foam/rubber surrounding and connected to the drivers may take a few hours to soften or loosen up fully and allow for the full range of movement and correct time response, but this would only take a few hours at most.

it will take your ears much longer to adjust to the new sound of your speakers.

basically speakers don't "break in", your ears do.

[WMcD]

I long held the belief that the breaking in theory was nonesense.

I had to back off that when Dr. D'Appalito cited a comment from a manufacturer that speakers might shift in performance with a short period of break in. At best, it is measured in minutes, not hours or days. Maybe the surrounds loosen up a bit.

I just can not subscribe to theories that wire or caps change in value when they're first exercised with a signal. Please know that wire, caps, inductors, even transistors, are the components of all electronic devices being used in many applications.

If this sort of thing happened, we'd know about it. There are relentless QC programs between component manufacturers and the manufacturers which put them in automobiles, amps, or military equipment. Nowhere, to my knowledge, is there a hint that electrical characteristics shift away from the earliest measured values.

There are a lot of very sincere people who hear a difference and attibute those to shifts of electronic qualities. I'd give some credance if there was any objective data. There is none, though.

It is true that systems seem to be better when you've listened for a while. It is in our heads.

Gil

[Deang]

"We have been attempting to easily show cap 'break-in' for a long time. It is possible to measure changes, but only with exotic equipment. Your assumption is that if it is audible, then it has to be a major change in the waveform. It will not show up on a scope. Advanced measurements of harmonic distortion, dielectric absorption, and dynamic leakage will measure differences. Black Gate, the cap manufacturer, recommended 'break in' at least 15 years ago. The Black Gate cap is a patented, high quality cap. It seems to need 'break-in' more than many other caps, why I don't know for sure, but many appreciate the results." -- John Curl

What accounted for me being able to hear changes in my RF-7's after I swapped out all of the stock parts on the crossover? There were clearly changes going on over the course of several weeks -- I certainly didn't imagine it.

[AnalOg]

I would defenitely have to agree with the breakin issue. After I built the Paramours it took about 100 hrs for the sound to open up, better sound stage, smoother mids. The bass became more pronounced and natural.

Tom

[JohnA]

While I respect the opinion of John Curl, the issue at hand is speakers and my experience changing crossovers and drivers is "Fiction".

WRT tube amps, I have but a little experience. However, we all know that a tube begins to degrade as soon as it is used and finally fails. It is not hard to imagine the sound changing during this process.

[Curmudgeon]

Some speakers require more break-in than others, but usually the manufacturer will state that in the manual or literature. I had a pair of B&W CDM9NT's and it took 1-2 months of regular listening for them to smooth out. A lot of it has to do with the material the drivers are made out of, some types of cones and surrounds need to "loosen up" before they sound their best. The biggest thing to remember about break-in is that the overall sound will improve slightly, if the speakers you're auditioning sound rather harsh now they'll still sound harsh ten years from now - just a little less harsh. I don't want colored sound from speakers but if most of your CD collection doesn't sound just right it's not always the recordings - it could very well be the speakers. After listening to Klipschorns with tubes the B&W's just didn't cut it, so I sold them. The Khorns sound good on darn near all of my vinyl and CD's, and fantastic on the good recordings. Always see if the dealer will let you take a demo pair home so you can hear them in your environment - it can save a lot of heartache.