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Speaker Burn In?

Many components including speakers are said to require burn in of some period of time before they will reach their peak performance. Speakers like Magnepan are notorious for long burn in periods. Even cables are said to require burn in. Now I an faced with a set of speakers that need upwards of 240 hours burn in before they will 'open up' and play their best.

When faced with a required burn in how to yo do that burn it? Do you simply let it run it's course of time during your normal playback schedule or do you run the system 24/7 until the required time has been met? Are there other methods that can be used? Is their an accepted preferred method? And does the volume being played for burn in have an impact? Do higher volumes 'drive' the component harder and therefore provide a better burn in or to moderate or low volumes achieve the same goal?

In the past I have simply ignored the burn in as an effort and allowed the time to occur 'naturally' during my normal playback times. But with my last several components I have been more mindful of burn in and the recommended hours to optimum performance. Right now I am burning in a pair of speakers. I am about 40 hours in on non-stop playback. My normal listening level is from 72 to 81 on my system. When I leave the house or go to bed I drop the volume to 60 to 63. It is audible and in fact at this early time (3:40 AM) locally it even seems a little loud. How do you deal with this process?

Important process or waste of time thinking about it?
mwheelerk
jaybo
4,478 posts
 
no speaker transforms 'that' radically..enjoy them now.
jl35
2,244 posts
 
You can do both. Play lots of music while you're home and awake, play a tuner at night and while at work. I haven't bought many new speakers, but did find that Vandersteens did improve radically after a week of non stop play.
hifihvn
943 posts
 
I haven't ever bought a speaker that wasn't enjoyable when new, out of the box, that was a keeper. Anything else that was new that didn't sound satisfying to begin with, wasn't a keeper either. There shouldn't be that much of a change. I've never pushed any hard for the first few days, to give all the moving parts a chance to physically loosen up, and settle in. Enjoy them while they break in.
xti16
1,495 posts
 
01-01-12: Polk432
You may as well just play them. Always make the dealer burn them in first so you can hear them at their best, otherwise they probably already do, and the dealer made an easy sale. There is too much bullshit regarding speaker and wire burn in. 24 hours is enough. You will only THINK they sound better by waiting. I've had dealers mad at me for having them take the time to burn the speakers in, so that way they had no excuses if I didn't like the sound. My money is worth more that their time...because.... it is money that has been worked for and saved in advance. Not money they haven't earned yet, so don't let the dealer tell you you're wasting his time. That's what they're there for. Just play the speakers. No need to run pink noise or run one speaker out of phase. If they do not sound good after 24 hours, (I don't care how expensive they are) they will do your ears no good. Happy listening
I have to disagree with this statement regarding the time of burn-in. It may be true with some brands but I have survived 3 pair of Dynaudio C1 burn-in. My first pair I was not happy with the finish and after 450 hrs Dynaudio got me replacements. The 3rd pair was upgrading from the originals to the Signatures. Out of the box they are 90% of burned in ones BUT between 100 and 200 hrs they were just horrible. Honky/shouty mids - muddy lows and extremely bright highs. At around 350hrs they settled down and are doing my ears good :). That being said when I got the Signatures I borrowed my son's 'lesser resolving system' after 50hrs because I could blame the horrible sound time on that (hehe)

If you are impatient like me go for 7/24 otherwise just listen.
timlub
1,649 posts
 
I have built alot of speakers, my experience is that if drivers have larger coils and heavy suspensions, they do take longer to break in. You have to loosen that suspension and before they can reach their potential. Most Dyns have 3" coils in the 6" drivers are larger, these drivers take much more time than a speaker with a 10" woofer with a 1 1/2 coil, a mid with a one inch coil and a dome. I am currently using an MTM with 2 HiVi D6.8(same driver as a Totem Forest). When I first fired these up, I was very concerned, Weak bass, huge mid range glare... After about 40 hours the transformation started, by 100 hours I could listen to them, but not until around 400 hours did they finally totally blossem. These are now one of the best speakers I have ever owned.
I have seen speakers with lighter suspensions sound pretty dog on good in 100 hours or so... It clearly varies by speaker.
Set em up and let em play as much as you can. The enjoyment will improve and improve.
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