Author Topic: Speaker Burn In And Burn In In General  (Read 4972 times)

Offline bhobba

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Speaker Burn In And Burn In In General
« on: October 14, 2012, 05:27:29 PM »
The terminals broke on a pair of ML1 Reference I have while being shipped and had to be returned to be fixed.

Anyway while they were being fixed Mike had a chance to re-measure them and compare them to when they left the factory.

Guess what - they now measure better - frequency response is flatter - for example a slight about 1db suckout in the the critical midrange is gone - I saw the measurements and can confirm it.

I asked Mike why is that? Well its not the drivers themselves - they break in very quickly. It's the inductors and capacitors.

There have been many threads talking about burn in in general and speakers in particular. You have one side saying its simply people getting used to the sound and the other side saying they can hear clear and audible differences. Well now we have an objective measurement proving its real and not just getting used to the sound.

Thanks
Bill

Offline sleepyguy24

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Re: Speaker Burn In And Burn In In General
« Reply #1 on: October 15, 2012, 11:37:38 AM »
Hi Bill

Thanks for sharing this but now I've got some questions.

How many hours are needed for the inductors and capacitor of your speakers to be broken in? Is there a specific volume that the speakers need to be played at to help with the break in?
Any specific types of music to be played or specific frequencies to be used to break-in the speakers, inductors and capacitors? Really I'm being serious.

For me whenever I get any new gear (amp, various wires, preamp etc) I just play it for 2 weeks straight before giving it a critical listen.

From reading articles and other stuff on the net it seems a lot of items require min 200 hours before they sound good or come into their own so no matter what I'll just play music/test discs for 2-3 weeks w/o listening to it at all.

When all is said and done then I'll give it a listen. If I don't like the sound then it has to go. It's all broken in now right?

With speakers I'd let them play for hours at a low volume and then turn it up real loud when no one was around.

Thanks again.

Offline bhobba

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Re: Speaker Burn In And Burn In In General
« Reply #2 on: October 15, 2012, 05:13:15 PM »
Hi Sleepy

I think 300 hours is a good guide although these speakers had more on them than that - I would say about 1000-1500 hours.

The volume doesn't really matter as far as I can tell.

Thanks
Bill

Offline sleepyguy24

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Re: Speaker Burn In And Burn In In General
« Reply #3 on: October 15, 2012, 08:51:07 PM »
Thanks again Bill for the quick response.

Please everyone refrain from snickering but I have some questions that are probably silly but I do have audiophile nervosa or OCD.

Some of my speakers have not been powered in months for various reasons. They were stored in a non temperature controlled tool shed or my garage while a home renovation was being done. One set was wrapped in furniture plastic, another in it's stock packaging, another left as is.

Do I need to re-break-in my speakers to make sure the inductors and capacitors are ok? Another 300 plus hours before judgment can be made if there is an issue?

Thanks again.

Offline Carlman

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Re: Speaker Burn In And Burn In In General
« Reply #4 on: October 16, 2012, 05:27:08 AM »
Speakers that have been stored will change in sound when you play them again (generally).  It's been my experience that they take much less time because the pathways leave a bit of a memory from the electrons that flowed before.  It's my experience that a day or 2 of constant playing gets them at least 90% of the way back to original... But when they stop changing is up to your ears.  If you really wanted to account for every factor and variable, nothing ever stops changing. ;)
-C
I really enjoy listening to music.

Offline JBryan

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Re: Speaker Burn In And Burn In In General
« Reply #5 on: October 16, 2012, 05:34:12 AM »
I don't think a full break-in as you describe is necessary. I rotate speakers in a 2nd system quite a bit and have found that after sitting idle for a few months or even years, the speaks take 15-30 hours to settle into their sound. This could be the materials becoming compliant again or most likely, the electronics stabilizing but you do not need as many hours as with the initial break in.

BTW, I find the same is true with amps, preamps, etc. If a piece of gear has been sitting on the shelf for a couple of months, it may only take an hour or so and SS tends to take about twice as long as tube gear, in my experience. Any gear that's been idle for more than 3 years, should be brought up on a variac just to avoid any possible damage/heartache and the break in will obviously be longer - still just hours though.
« Last Edit: October 16, 2012, 05:40:43 AM by JBryan »

Offline rollo

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Re: Speaker Burn In And Burn In In General
« Reply #6 on: October 16, 2012, 07:21:26 AM »
  Most caps take about 250 hours to stop changing. the exceptions being Teflon based [ V-caps] caps which take up to 1000 hours.
   Duelund about 400 hours. Now the inductors another story. Lots of wire there. In my experience 500 hours plus depending on dielectric used.
    I had the ML-1s here for some time. Actually were still changing. after 500 hours of my break in they finally stopped changing.
     As dealers for Lenehan we recco 500 hours minimum for any of his speakers. If all Deulund parts 1000 hours.
      To break in properly set speakers facing each other as close as possible without the drivers touching each other. Connect one speaker out of phase to the other and play music for 12 hours at a time with 5 hours in between so the material can settle. BTW cover with blankets and turn it up.
     Just make sure speaker excursion does not cause drivers to touch each other. The pushing and pulling of the drivers will loosen up the surrounds. It is the surrounds that need most of the break in. Not forgetting the voice coils with all that wire and dielectric. Hence 500 hours minimum. in our experience.
  Hope this helps.

charles



   
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Offline Face

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Re: Speaker Burn In And Burn In In General
« Reply #7 on: October 16, 2012, 08:23:42 AM »
It sounds like something is wrong with his measuring setup.

Offline rollo

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Re: Speaker Burn In And Burn In In General
« Reply #8 on: October 17, 2012, 09:05:58 AM »
It sounds like something is wrong with his measuring setup.

    Measuring set up ??? Don't get it, please explain.



charles
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Offline Carlman

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Re: Speaker Burn In And Burn In In General
« Reply #9 on: October 17, 2012, 10:36:30 AM »
Haha.  If things measure differently and you don't like the results, must be a problem in measuring. ;)
I really enjoy listening to music.

Offline rollo

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Re: Speaker Burn In And Burn In In General
« Reply #10 on: October 18, 2012, 07:08:38 AM »
Haha.  If things measure differently and you don't like the results, must be a problem in measuring. ;)

 Had a brain fart now I get the post. great response Carlman.  :thumb:


charles
contact me  at rollo14@verizon.net or visit us on Facebook
Lamm Industries - Aqua Acoustic, Formula & La Scala DAC- INNUOS  - Rethm - Kuzma - QLN - Audio Hungary Qualiton - Fritz speakers -Gigawatt -Vinnie Rossi,TWL, Swiss Cables, Merason DAC.