question about breaking in speakers and amp

Hi Keith, I completely agree with you that equipment should sound perfect within 24 hrs. I did not mean to imply that a tube amp would sound bad when it is new its just that as the capacitors are forming, things should smooth out a little more after about 50 hrs or so depending on what material was used to manufacture the caps with, and teflon takes the longest to form. I had teflon caps installed in my tube amp and they sounded wonderful right from the start and to my ears are getting a little smoother as I put more hours on them.

The whole idea of break-in doesn't wash. A solid state system is broken in about 15 seconds after you turn it on the first time - speakers included. Tubes do need to warm up, but not in any different manner the first time you turn it on than the 200th time you turn it on. What gets broken in is the listener, not the equipment. This is not cement - it doesn't have to "set up".

I have shifted my thinking about break-in over time. I guess I've broken in.

Now, I'm pretty settled on the belief that changes occur over the first 24 hours of "on" time, but after that, any changes are imperceptible. At least to my ears.

Those who narrow the golden moment to a number of hours somewhere in the hundreds make me chuckle.

You guys don't think that capacitors break in or form? I think if you talk to any good tube amp designer and ask them if a cap that is in the signal path ( coupling caps) sounds different after 50 hours than when it is fresh out of the box will tell you that it will.

Actually, I suffered through about 500 hours of Blackgate break-in, so I need to
revise my statement. Certainly caps break in and a unit's sound changes over
the break-in period.

I think break-in of wire is less pronounced and shorter.

Speaker driver break-in I have observed takes a day or two. Maybe other brands
are different.