Speaker Burn In Methods (1 Viewer)

[Michael R Price]

Greg,

And some don't.
I would prefer to at least agree on well established fact that some woofers exhibit measurable electromechanical changes in the first few hours of play. With my speakers those changes were more than obvious. I do not know if any of those had to do with other components like the tweeter, crossover, etc.

 

[Brian Tatnall]

Interesting read by Tom Nousaine maybe it can shed some light.

http://bruce.coppola.name/audio/BurnInLegend.pdf

 

[Daniel_Wang]

After having the speakers now for about 2 weeks, I went to Goodguys to listen to their Monitor B4 setup with a cd I've been listening to a lot and to my pleasant surprise the sound was not nearly as "clean" as I remembered. The 6.5 in driver that controls the lower freq (I think is around the 36hz range), wasn't quite as bass-y I guess? Not sure how to explain that one. The higher range was kinda just "loud" almost annoying. I thought it was due to my "break in", but after further investigation I found that 1.The amp they were using had a 75watt RMS rating(opposed to my 125 RMS) 2.The wire gauge was 18 (opposed to 12 gauge) and finally the placement of my speakers compared to Goodguys enviroment. So maybe break in is suggestive.

 

[Brian Tatnall]

People are not so reliable when it comes to comparing two things. Be it speakers, cables, or receivers. A difference in power on the same receiver with the same wire gauge could bring many different comments about the same speaker. Add in a different listening room, different receiver, and different wire and then the time between when you listened to the other speaker last and there are just tons and tons of variables.

Anyway, I find that I get the most distinct sounds of a speaker right out of the box or when I've been listening to another one for awhile and then switch back.

Break in is something I've never experienced however it should be interesting to see if I get the same results as Mr. Price once my 281's are done.

Another Article
http://bruce.coppola.name/audio/urbanLegends.pdf

Actually this is just a darn good site.
http://bruce.coppola.name/audio/

 

[Michael R Price]

Brian,

Oh I did not know you were actually going to do the Kit281s... that is good to hear. If you don't think those sound harsh at first I will stand on my head.

From other owners:
"For the first 5 hours or so these speaker didn't sound too good. The treble was quite harsh, and overemphasized. After a few hours went by there was a very noticeable mellowing of the sound. The treble came into place and everything was sounding like music for the first time. "
"HARSH TWEETERS! ... Those who have sited this issue arn't kidding. I winced a couple of times.
THE GOOD NEWS >>>----------> the tweeters seemed to mellow out almost right away, before the first hour of program material had passed. This mellowing was faster than I expected, as many have sited this is a 3-5 hour process...
1) The sound I have found harsh is not from the tweeters, but seems to be the upper midrange from the av8s. I disconnected the tweeter crossover by removing the jumpers on the input cups, and powered only the av8's. the sizzle of the tweeters dissaperared (of course) but the harsh tones were still there.
2) The unplesant harshness is dissapearing. fast. (mental note, speaker break in IS a reality) "

I would like to add that even after many hours of play I improved the sound further by playing music and tones that pushed the woofers to their excursion limits (which never happens normally).

 

[Chu Gai]

so some people like em almost from the get go, some it took a while to get used to the sound, some just think they sucked. i love testimonials

 

[Michael R Price]

Chu,

Do you think our perceptions can fool us that much? I do not recall any non-owners listening to used 281s saying they were harsh, yet everyone who's built them says they sound that way at first.