[Musicman51]

I want to thank those that did help try to answer my question, although we did get mislead a little, i suppose it's all related in one way or another. To git back to my original question, yes i do believe in a speaker break in period. Here are a few responses those in the know had to say. Thanks again for all the support.

Hi George,

Yes, there is a "break-in" period and it's going to happen whether you want it to or not. The speaker will continue to break-in as long as you use it, but the most noticeable amount occurs early on. Break-in is caused by the speaker heating up and softening. The resonant frequency will drop considerably at first and eventually level out to a slower decline as the moving parts wear. The change in tonality is overall warmth and a smoother top end. A lot of players are aware of this and don't bother playing it or making a judgement about the tone until it happens. Others like the speakers right out of the box. There are many methods people use to achieve break-in, such as using a variac or music for an extended amount of time. Some people even have a specific song they use. At Eminence, we use a noise signal generator set to a very low frequency when we want to test or compare. It's nearly impossible to do a fair comparison without some level of break-in. The idea is to get the speaker moving without causing abuse. Some of these methods can be risky. I've fried a few speakers in my time. The safest and simplest method to achieve break-in is to play it long and loud. It will eventually happen naturally. Other factors that can affect the rate are temperature and humidity. I can't really advise when it will occur because it varies from speaker to speaker. It can even vary with two of the same model.

Regards,

Anthony Lucas
Sr. Lab Technician
Eminence Speaker LLC
anthony.lucas@eminence.com
(502)845-5622 ext. 341

While a new speaker is a little stiff when new and will pick up some low end as well as experience a downward shift in its bass resonance after it has been thrashed with high power for awhile,
generally, the speaker will sound very good right out of the box and the break in may not be as dramatic as some may claim.

Thanks very much,

Ted
.
Weber Speakers
1308 E. Hoffer St.
Kokomo, Indiana USA 46902
765.452.1249
Fax 765.452.6228

George:

I have found that Jensen musical instrument speakers sound great right out of the box. A lot of players just need time to become accustomed to the new speaker's tonal response and feel when changing from a speaker they may have used for years.

Thanks for your inquiry.

George,

Every speaker has some sort of break in period, and the amount of time varies from on product to another. Typically it's 15-20 hours if you use a sign wave at half excursion, and a few days by just playing music through them. There is no better way than another. After break in periods people have mentioned hearing deeper bass, cleaner mids and better sound overall.

Regards,

Matt Phillips
Technical Advisor
Parts Express Int.
800-338-0531 x 2

And so the age old question continues. Thanks again for your ideas and comments...... George