Geoff C

Axiom break-in time/sound

I just received my M22s and VP150 (to add to the Stf-2 I just bought). I'm pretty impressed with the 22's so far, the 150 sounded a bit midrangy at first, but I think it is improving.


Just a quick question for you other Axiom owners (I didn't find a definite answer when searching past threads):

How long did it take for your Axioms to 'break-in', and how much playing time/volume did you use?

And, what was the largest effect of the break-in improvement that you noticed?


I would love to know what to look out for and when I should expect anything, it's been awhile since I've owned quality speakers.

Thanks!

JamesCB

Break in is subjective at best. Some will reply "It happens in the first few minutes", and others will say "It will take up to 200 hours". Some may say it is your ears getting used to the speakers over time. It's one of those subjects that may never truly be resolved. If you notice a change, and it's an improvement, that's good. I think I noticed an improvement in my midrange after a few months. It may be a psycological thing, I don't know.

While I have never heard Axioms, many claim they tend to be a "brighter" speaker. That may be why you say "midrangy" (is that really a word? lol). Many times a bright system can be tamed through proper applications of acoustical treatments to the room. The room is as important as the speakers. Hope this helps. Happy Listening.

Chu Gai

Well the available studies indicate it occurs in the first few moments of playing. They also indicate that after the speaker has rested, the various driver parameters return to their original values. Kind of like measureing a rubber band. Then stretching and remeasuring. Then remeasuring overnight. Consider the following link for a series of pros and cons.

Geoff C

Chu, thanks for that link. That's a bunch of reading, I'll keep working at it.


I guess, honestly, the only way to check for break-in would have been to order 4 sets of identical speakers, and play them different amounts, including none, and then switch between them afterwards to see if you could perceive any obvious difference.

Geoff C

James-

The VP150 did sound a bit punchy on the upper mid-range scale to my ears, even without the m22's to compare too.

Could be the (3) 5" drivers working in unison, or I could easily believe that Axiom has tuned the overall VP150 package to deliver vocal frequencies a bit stronger, being a center channel.

Also could be that I know nothing about which I speak! :b

Chu Gai

The important thing to my mind is make sure you're happy with your speakers and if you're not, return them while you can still get your money back. Doesn't mean they were bad, it just means they weren't right for you. While you've got them though, make sure you spend time aligning them, calibrating everything, etc. Good luck on whichever path you go down.

Ron Boster

Some manufactures talk about break-in preiods for their speakers. The ranges that I've read are anywhere from 20 hours to HT hobbists talk about 100 hours.

If you want to break-in the speakers, you could use the calibration tones (white noise) from your receiver or a DVD with the THX test tones. You could run the white noise through your speakers overnight and while at work. The volume is not important.

This would be an effcient way to break-in the speakers and stay within the demo period, incase you may not like the overall sound of the speakers.

Ron

PS: I like Axiom speakers, but felt their center speakers left something to be desired. You could try a bybee speaker filter to ehlp in the midrange clarity. When I had the VP-150, I bought one and it did make a difference. I also think placement of the center makes a difference in creating a nice blend between the M60's that I had.