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How much burn-in for Soliloquy 5.3s

Hi,

I recently purchased a demo pair of Soliloquy 5.3s, which I figured might have enough hours on them (dealer said he thought they had about 50 hrs) to sound reasonably good out of the box. Wrong! They sound absolutely horrible; very compressed, bass muddy and distant, treble subdued to the point of being almost not existant. At one point I actually thought the tweeter was nonfunctional since I could barely hear any extension at all. I hope I didn't make a big mistake. Anyway, I am hoping that folks out there with experience with these might be able shed some light (sound!) on what I can expect.
cody_the_cat
boss302
97 posts
 
Cody, I got the 6.3's last September. I've got a tuner and had them going for 4 weeks 24/7. It took longer than that for the sound to really fill out. I use Purist Musaeus Shotgun BiWire for my speaker cables. They work very well in my system.
boa2's avatar
boa2
1,550 posts
 
I had the 5.3's, and now have the 6.2's. Patience, patience, and more patience. They will surprise you when they finally break in (about 500 hours). It will certainly be worth the wait.
jax2
3,031 posts
 
I use AU24's and like them fine with the Wright Mono 10's I'm using. I think that interface may be dependent also on your amp for synergy.

Marco
boa2's avatar
boa2
1,550 posts
 
I am using Signal Cable bi-wires (probably will switch to their new line of silver), Quicksilver IC's, driven by Quicksilver Mini Mono's. Still breaking in, but every few days gets better. Wonderful speakers. Positioning is also very important with Soliloquy's. Most people suggest at least 2-3' off of the back wall, and with a slight toe-in.
rysa4
266 posts
 
IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE!

hehe. Jax2's post above got me interested since my speakers were bought and stamped between 2/16/2004 and 2/25/2004 or so.

I have Frankenstein's! My drivers are the new ones in the picture. I did look at some pics of the older 5.3s and sure enough, Jax2 is right that the drivers used to be all-black without the silver metal ring structure like the new ones in the picture.

There is an audiogon add with a guy selling maple Frankenstein's built in March so I guess several of the 5.3 cabinets from 2003 were mated with the new guts of 2004. My cabinets are English Cherry which I love but aren't available for the regular "i" models.

Whatever the answer is, I really enjoy the speakers immensely and thats what counts. Looks like all my drivers in all 5 speakers are the new ones BTW, and they sound quite matched. I do see my instruction manual says 5.3i, c-3i and sat5i, so perhaps thats that.

To Cody the cat- I guess I can't compare so well to the 1999 models you have, but while the bass break in time is quite lengthy I think, your description of the treble/tweeter raises my eyebrow a bit. It just doesn't sound right. Might compare to another Soliloquy 5.3 set and see. Check adds, stores, friends, perhaps call Soliloquy and ask where you can hear some in your area. And try that Gentle ocean CD at low volume for 24 hours-- worked well for me.
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