Hey everyone, I've been surfin the net looking to see if this is actually a myth... it seemed like there were many different takes on the situation and I wanted to get your take on it. Myth? Real? Any hard evidence? If its real... how long does it take for a speaker to break in?

Andrew

Use the search button, you can find couple of threads with the same questions, replied.

Hey everyone, I've been surfin the net looking to see if this is actually a myth... it seemed like there were many different takes on the situation and I wanted to get your take on it. Myth? Real? Any hard evidence? If its real... how long does it take for a speaker to break in?

Andrew

i say it's real, explains why a sub is louder and flexes more after enough playing. my $0.2

What part are you talking about it?

That a speaker needs to break in so it will last a long time, then no its a myth.

Or

That a speakers suspension will loosen up with play time, then yes.

most people refer to this like a car engine, how you need to take it easy on the engine for the first "3000" miles, this is true for engines, subwoofers....no. When a sub is new the suspension is at its stiffest, we say, beat the hell out of it right out of the box.

Remember, it's not an engine

Actually the engine thing is a little too convenient as well. The rings should be fully seated after several hundred miles. Hell, on most street engines, it only takes a few heat cycles.

Per Vance Dickason in The Loudspeaker Design Cookbook, the following are measured parameters for a 6.5" Peerless woofer;

Pre-Break In (i.e. out of the box)

Fs: 49.9hz

Qms: 2.11

Qes: 0.44

Qts: 0.37

Vas: 16.8L

Post-Break In (12hrs @ 25hz, unspecified power)

Fs: 44.5hz

Qms: 1.97

Qes: 0.39

Qts: 0.33

Vas: 21.6L

However, enclosure requirements/performance will be nearly identical since the Fs/Qts ratio stays virtually the same even though there's a decent % variance in some of the parameters. On that point, published T/S parameters are either taken from a single driver or an average from a sample batch. The actual T/S parameters for two different drivers from the same product line can vary by as much as 10% or more (I believe most manufacturers consider a variation of 10% to be within tolerance), some have a significant difference in T/S parameters if QC is poor. So really, the difference in pre- and post-break in T/S aren't any greater than one might experience between two drivers as a result of production variances.

Is "break in" a myth? No, not really. As indicated, you can clearly and easily show a measurable difference in parameters. Is there going to be a readily apparent audible difference? With your typical driver....probably not. The resultant changes in response are going to be virtually inaudible. On a high powered SPL sub with a ridiculously stiff suspension routinely driven to it's mechanical limits, results may be a little different. The variance would probably be enough for a meter to pick up (tenths of a decibel), so it may matter in that particular arena.

Do you need to ascribe a particular time period for "break-in"? No. Just plug it in and play it like you normally would. If you really want to break in your driver, playing it at a low level for some arbitrary time period is counterproductive. The best way to effectively break in a driver is to play it free air at a high excursion level for a couple hours. It will be sufficiently "broken in" after that.

Per Vance Dickason in The Loudspeaker Design Cookbook, the following are measured parameters for a 6.5" Peerless woofer;

Pre-Break In (i.e. out of the box)

Fs: 49.9hz

Qms: 2.11

Qes: 0.44

Qts: 0.37

Vas: 16.8L

Post-Break In (12hrs @ 25hz, unspecified power)

Fs: 44.5hz

Qms: 1.97

Qes: 0.39

Qts: 0.33

Vas: 21.6L

However, enclosure requirements/performance will be nearly identical since the Fs/Qts ratio stays virtually the same even though there's a decent % variance in some of the parameters. On that point, published T/S parameters are either taken from a single driver or an average from a sample batch. The actual T/S parameters for two different drivers from the same product line can vary by as much as 10% or more (I believe most manufacturers consider a variation of 10% to be within tolerance), some have a significant difference in T/S parameters if QC is poor. So really, the difference in pre- and post-break in T/S aren't any greater than one might experience between two drivers as a result of production variances.

Is "break in" a myth? No, not really. As indicated, you can clearly and easily show a measurable difference in parameters. Is there going to be a readily apparent audible difference? With your typical driver....probably not. The resultant changes in response are going to be virtually inaudible. On a high powered SPL sub with a ridiculously stiff suspension routinely driven to it's mechanical limits, results may be a little different. The variance would probably be enough for a meter to pick up (tenths of a decibel), so it may matter in that particular arena.

Do you need to ascribe a particular time period for "break-in"? No. Just plug it in and play it like you normally would. If you really want to break in your driver, playing it at a low level for some arbitrary time period is counterproductive. The best way to effectively break in a driver is to play it free air at a high excursion level for a couple hours. It will be sufficiently "broken in" after that.

Agreed, I wasn't disputing this, simply saying most people think you need to "take it easy" on a sub woofer right out of the box. When that simply isn't needed

Why when new and you Wang the hell out of it you get alot of funny smells from the woofer?

Why when new and you Wang the hell out of it you get alot of funny smells from the woofer?

extra glue burns off..also metals give off a smell when heated for the first time. ie coils.

thanks for the facts & figures guys! much appreciated! I'll be going to turn my set-up to what it should be and see how it goes!! Thanks again all!