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Surrounds Break - in period?

Snake Doctor

Snake Doctor

Active Member
I am curious and have never read or heard anything about breaking in rear speakers in a five system setup. Yes, I understand they are for effect, however when playing music I switch between stereo and surround, the sound is entirely different.

My rear speakers were purchased new about 9 or 10 years after my mains. The sound is much better balanced, but it caused me to wonder about a breaking in period, even though they are or should be well past that point.
 
Break in period is a myth. It takes about three minutes to fully break in a modern speaker and it is likely that happened in the factory during quality control testing.

It doesn't typically damage a speaker to run the signals and pretend you are making a difference, so one could do it if they want.
 
Interesting, I remember when guys would play music for hours to break-in their speakers. I was never sure what that was or how it helped. Supposedly the longer the speakers played the better the sound with the goal of around 20 - 30 hours.

So why then and not now? Just curious.
 
The original speakers were normally made from animal hides; leathers and such do require a break-in period, just like a new wallet or pair of sneakers. With the modern plastic/foam/paper artificial materials, this is no longer necessary.*



*Yes I'm full of shit.
 
There is some truth to the concept, Botch. Proper break-in is just making the materials as flexible as they should be, so any crystals in the coatings and other such things need to be broken and loosened. Modern materials and manufacturing processes, which started way back in the 70s, have made any extensive break-in pointless. Speakers do need to enough break-in to distribute any ferrofluids in the voice coil gaps or to knock off any loose particles which might have lightly clung to a part, but otherwise it is pointless.

When all the fun of tweaking turntables, tube amps, and other such things went away in the 1980s, audiophiles who had a compulsion to do things to enhance the performance of their systems resorted to nonsense to replace the very real things they did with turntables, reel-to-reels, cassette decks, and so on which were all highly subject to mechanical and physical tweaking. So, we got stupid cable claims and expensive cables, over the top power conditioner claims, stupid nonsense like cable-lifters, green Sharpies on CD edges, and so on. So, the idea of "breaking in" a speaker is easy to accept as meaningful since a speaker is a mechanism, like cars and power drills. What I love are the folk who still break in their disc players and cables.

But really, just listen to the speakers and enjoy them. They are not going to change in sound in the first several years and will only change a bit over their useful operational lives before they fail.

If you really want to break something in, buy a new lawn mower.
 
The review in this months S&V said the Martin Logans reviewed required like a 100 hour break in. @Flint do you think electrostatics are different or was it just simply more snake oil in your opinion?
 
Randy said:
The review in this months S&V said the Martin Logans reviewed required like a 100 hour break in. @Flint do you think electrostatics are different or was it just simply more snake oil in your opinion?
Click to expand...

I believe it is snake oil catering to audiophiles who are willing to spend that kind of money. If I am selling a $10,000 pair of speakers and close to 100% of my potential customers believe in the myths of cables, power conditioners, and speaker break-in, I will no contradict them and ensure they don't think I know what I am doing - right?

Also, and this is important... I am always surprised that the recommended break-in period for nearly all high end gear exceeds the time period one can send the products back for a full refund.
 
Agree with Flint.

I would be astonished to learn that someone was smart enough to design a speaker (material, electronics, cabinet glue, etc.) that, once played for 100 hours, would have significantly altered its performance (in a positive direction) and then stopped "breaking in" after that.

Personally I think a speaker is fully "broken in" once its cone has completed one excursion. (The likes of Paul Barton and others would agree.)

Jeff

ps. There are some "systems" where break in can be intuitively proven / understood. Case in point: basketball shoes. For the first few hours they are a bitch on my feet. Then they perform great, and in a uniform manner, for many hours, then they fail rather quickly over a short period of time. I make sure to wear them in a few pick up games before I use them in a competitive situation. I only say this because I'm off to buy a new pair tomorrow - having struggled with my current pair, so obviously on its last legs (its, not mine!), at the gym this morning.
 
Flint said:
When all the fun of tweaking turntables, tube amps, and other such things went away in the 1980s.......
Click to expand...

Contrary to popular impression, I'm not dead yet, and still having a blast tweaking my turntable, tube amps and other such things. Please, no sweeping generalities! :moon:
 
rammisframmis said:
Contrary to popular impression, I'm not dead yet, and still having a blast tweaking my turntable, tube amps and other such things. Please, no sweeping generalities! :moon:
Click to expand...

You're right, but the trend at that moment was to find something in the new tech to "tweak" and the new tech didn't benefit from such things. Thanks for calling that out.
 
I don't really have a dog in this fight, since I too just like to enjoy listening to my equipment instead of worrying about any type of burn-in procedure.

But I thought this was a timely thread, because I recently stumbled on the following links. (I think these articles have been up for a long time, but I just recently came across them):
http://www.gr-research.com/burnin.htm
http://www.gr-research.com/myths.htm

Those articles made me a bit curious since he provides objective data. Thoughts?
 
Yes, all mechanical devices change over time with use.

The problem with the break-in period theory is the belief that there is a 20, 100, or 400 hour period of time after receiving a speaker which will show dramatic change while the next 10 years show minor change. In fact, the change after manufacture from the first instant a driver is fed a voltage compared to how it changes over the next 10 years is misunderstood.

Any decent driver today will show some change in the first for minutes or hours which is significant. After that the change is extremely slow and subtle over the next decade, or more. The idea that somehow the first 100 hours are significant is a false concept.

How do I know? Well, I have tested it with several sets of custom designed speakers designed for Hi-Fi, Professional, and Commercial use. I took the time to measure every speaker driver I have used from the instant it was unboxed until I was done with testing and measurements of the completed system to the years that followed, and I know what I measured. Yes, from the first measurement to the next to the third there was significant change, but by the time I got to the fourth or fifth measurement, it was minimal, if at all measurable. Then, over years, it was barely noticeable. So, the theory that there is change is not false, the idea that it is significant and audible to a casual user from arrival of a tested system over the first 100 hours is nonsense and an insult to you and everyone in the is industry.
 
team_tsp said:
Those articles made me a bit curious since he provides objective data. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
It is inevitable since a loudspeaker driver is an electro-mechanical device that some changes will take place as the parts "settle in" during use. Whether these changes are audible is questionable, although I have no doubt that they could be measured.
 
I will add. I took the time to "break-in" my current midrange drivers in my ultra-high-end system and from the first instant to the second minute it matters, but after that, even with dozens of hours of break-in, the difference in measurement was completely unmeasurable. I don't accept these moronic concepts anymore and won't stand by to listen to people repeat them anymore.
 
:drinkingbeer:I personally just spray Soundhound piss on all of my audio components. I even take the time to take out the speakers and hit the cross over with it too. I feel that step alone nulls out any break in time.
 
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