Speaker Burn-In Tips

[rallynut]

there are the believers and the non-believers in the burn in/break in phenomenon,and am also sure our ears getting 'used' to the sound figures heavily in the process.

i for one,used a mixture of noise files(freq sweeps/heavy drums/thunderstorms/lightning/pink noise/complex mixes of noise and music) on loop for 2hrs at system wake up,followed by normal listening the rest of the day,during the initial 100 hrs for my Mission M35i.the exercise didnt hurt !!the Isotek cd is supposed to be a good one for the stated purpose.cheers

 

[SANJAY KUMAR]

What happens to the cd player if it runs for 96 hrs flat.

 

[malvai]

What happens to the cd player if it runs for 96 hrs flat.

Wear and tear increases... Try using a cheap cdp, one of those thousand buck ones....

 

[gobble]

What happens to the cd player if it runs for 96 hrs flat.

Don't run your CDP for so long of course! Maybe one can try portable media player with the lossless rips of the burn-in tracks...

Sent from my iPod touch

 

[COOLDUDE7808]

around 2 to 3 hours daily ....from April to May end...that's 120 hrs + 30 hrs ( extended hours on Sat and sunday) = 150 hrs ......after which i have not noticed any major change in the sound ......i play with the volume at around 9 to 10 ....

All of my systems ...PM7001, CD6003 and Quad11L2 are new .... then i biwired since i needed more treble ......

one thing which did happen was i liked the sound before break in very much .....all sorts of doubts cropped up in my mind during this period ......on whether the tweeters have been damaged ? and so on ......

it would be wise to buy / audition a used gear first .....then decide on the purchase

 

[COOLDUDE7808]

a bit offtrack .....can i use a CD - Disc with that small brush on it ....on my Marantz CD6003 to clean the lens .....or is that not necessary ?

 

[malvai]

You can use it cooldude.... but in my experience, it really does not help....

you gotta open the CDP and clean it manually, gently, with a ear bud and a optical lens cleaner.... that usually does the trick in a jiffy!

 

[CLEARCUT]

Yes its true which i remember from the writings of a foreign mag. He suggested the speakers with some connection with a good power amp and fm tuner and kept in a carriage or in a non living place for a week in the night and use it in the day time as normal will get burn in. This also implies in head phone also i got one klipsch image2 i hated its first sound. My younger son who is not well versed with the burn in used it for a month i got it back to c its full potentiality, mind if pet animals in your place they will be affected by this sound which would be irritating to them.

 

[malvai]

around 2 to 3 hours daily ....from April to May end...that's 120 hrs + 30 hrs ( extended hours on Sat and sunday) = 150 hrs ......after which i have not noticed any major change in the sound ......i play with the volume at around 9 to 10 ....

All of my systems ...PM7001, CD6003 and Quad11L2 are new .... then i biwired since i needed more treble ......

one thing which did happen was i liked the sound before break in very much .....all sorts of doubts cropped up in my mind during this period ......on whether the tweeters have been damaged ? and so on ......

it would be wise to buy / audition a used gear first .....then decide on the purchase

Ok, dude, try listening to your gear with a singal run of speaker cable... I doubt if the tweeters have been damaged... I feel the double run of cable is killing the HF as of now.

Try it. You got nothing to lose...

 

[unleash_me]

Hi guys, this is a lil posting that I wanted to make for all the noobs on the forum. Its also like a lil refresher for some of us old hands.

@ the old hands: guys do chip in if you feel I have missed something.

This is the way I have burnt-in my previous speakers (and am following much the same procedure for the Thiel CS 2.4's as well):

1. Keep the speakers next to each other. The front baffles almost touching each other.
2. Wire up one speaker in phase and the other out of phase.
3. Put 2 or 3 thick blankets on them to muffle up the sound.
4. Put in a burn in track* on loop, or switch on a FM tuner to a channel that does not broadcast, so you get only the 'white noise'. Alternatively, (as a last resort, put on any cds that you have on hand).
5. Turn the volume to at least the 9 O'clock position. Don't worry, the inphase-outphase arrangement of your speaker from pt 2 will negate most of the disturbing volume, the thick blankets will do the rest of the sound nullification.
5. Keep this on overnight**.

* For burn in tracks look for the XLO refrence CD. it has a lovely burn-in track. An even better one is the Isotek cd. It has 2 burn in tracks. Track 2 is for bookshelf speakers. This track does not go too deep with low frequencies. Track 2 is for FS speakers. it is designed to exercise the full 10 octaves on the speaker... Track 3 is for general maintenence. It'll demagnetize the components when you play it and 'massage' all the circuits from the CDP to the amp and then the speakers. Even after the burn in period, one should play track 3 once every week. My suggestion: GO FOR THE ISOTEK CD!

**@an average of 10 hrs a night, you'll be burining-in for about 300 hrs a month. In roughly 1 month you can burn in Dali, Quad or Monitor Audio. In 2 months the tougher speakers like Canton etc. In 3 months the B&W's, Thiels and Dynaudios!

Interesting read. Must admit, over the years I have collected almost all tweak CDs I could get my hands on including the Isotek, XLO, Stereophile etc. Not because I necessarily believed in this concept but its often just to satisfy my curiosity.

If you have had any chance to listen to Harbeth, could you please give your impressions of burning-in phenomena on them? I ask this because of Harbeth's views on this concept - which I tend to agree with in my own experience owning them; along with few others from Wharfedale, Focal, ProAc and Dali in the past.

It's really intriguing. How such a theory, that even the speaker designers themselves write off as completely superfluous, is still taking rounds across audiophile forums.

Malvai, I do not question your believes nor do I disrespect your opinions. After all, you wrote from your own experiences. Just wanted to hear your thoughts on the above.

Cheers.