Speaker Breakin Period

[Musicman51]

So true, an underpower amp is the worse piece of equipment you could own. However, there are exceptions to everything. Depending on what you are going to use the speaker power situation for. But as a general rule, i've never fried a speaker cab by using an underpowered amp, in any situation i've performed at. But i can't say i haven't blown one the other way. If i know i'm going to need more power i take more. I have at times whished i'd had a larger more powerful amp, but i got by with using a bit of common sense. I purchased my new LCD desk top color monitor from Markertek Broadcast Supply, it is actually 5.6" to be exact, and it was $229.00 they work great. The brand name is "Delvcam" you can mount them almost anyplace, 12 Volts, and it runs off a wall wart, and if you turn the screen upside down, the picture remains upright. So there are many mounting options.
Billyo what type of speakers did you say you were using? just curious, not sure you mentioned that, sorry if i didn't catch it. And that sure sounds like a real neat setup system you have. Glad you have it all going well for you.
"May of the home speakers (woofers) have a foam surround at the outer edge of the cone to allow more cone movement for low end frequencies. This foam rots from age and humitity. It will also stretch if the speaker is over driven with much power at the low frequency spectrum and this will somtimes cause the voice coil to rub a little in the magnetic gap that it travels in. If it starts rubbing the coating on the windings of the voice coil the coating will start coming offf and it is possible for the coil to burn in spots until it opens up. The speaker is dead that point. Hope this helps."
Walt you are spot on my man, i have a Peavey Black Widow 1501 Shallow Basket steel guitar speaker, i have 4 of them to be exact. And i took two of these fantastic papar cone speakers, and repaced the magnets with their new Neodymium replacement mags. And the first thing i ran into was that stupid white foam. Peavey told me to wipe the basket clean, and make sure that burnt stuff is all out, then to bolt down the neodymium magnet. I like peavey for the fact that their baskets and mags are field replaceable. And you are in the right direction with that speaker break in as well...

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[billyo]

i have a pair of Mackie SRM 450 that i used for my show ,and a pair of Mackie 1521z for big venues, a pair of 6" ES (Especial Editon ) KRK Rokit studio monitors paired with a KRK v12s11 v series 10' sub, good enough to used for small clubhouse type parties, and a pair of KRK 8" studio monitors paired with the same 10' subs good enough for backyard parties and all systems has a separate mackie boards and i also have the same type (KRK"s) speakers/subs in my studio that is in my garage.. ( all Mackie/KRK speakers are powered )

[ddouglass]

I also agree that an under powered amp will cause as many problems as over-powering. If you use a 1000 watt amplifier into 250 watt speakers you will blow out the speaker as easily as using a 40 watt amp into 500 watt speakers. So basically try to match your speakers and amp close enough to be able to get the best sound out of both. Your better quality speakers will list a minimum and a maximum power rating.
Now the next question is what percentage do you set your amps at for the optimum output? 50%, 75% or 100%? All of my training has taught me that 75% gives you optimum performance with no distortion or clipping.

[Lonman]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

I also agree that an under powered amp will cause as many problems as over-powering. If you use a 1000 watt amplifier into 250 watt speakers you will blow out the speaker as easily as using a 40 watt amp into 500 watt speakers. So basically try to match your speakers and amp close enough to be able to get the best sound out of both. Your better quality speakers will list a minimum and a maximum power rating.
Now the next question is what percentage do you set your amps at for the optimum output? 50%, 75% or 100%? All of my training has taught me that 75% gives you optimum performance with no distortion or clipping.

I HAVE blown speakers with amps that weren't matched to the speakers - all in live situations however & with heavy rock. When I replaced the amps with the power that the speakers recommended (or a little higher) I never had another problem.
Again I have known SEVERAL people/companies that have blown speakers/drivers with amps that weren't even close to the program ratings of the speaker.
I have always been taught by SEVERAL sound engineers - including 3 that have worked with Nirvana, Pearl Jam & Soundgarden - to open the amps wide open as the mixer is the the pre-amp controller.

[billyo]

when i used to used power amps i used to have it all the way up 100%, and my board is up to unity gain, and use my channel gain to turn up/down the sound...i have the volume to 12'0clock on my powered speakers and use my board & channel fader to turn the volume up/down

[madjim- with the Lord]

Originally Posted by Lonman

I have always been taught by SEVERAL sound engineers - including 3 that have worked with Nirvana, Pearl Jam & Soundgarden - to open the amps wide open as the mixer is the the pre-amp controller.

Very correct! When using rack mount amps I always turn the volume full then back it down just a hair for a little headroom.

Jim

[Musicman51]

I've never seen any live acts ever run their power amps to the screaming point just to hold the power back by another means. Kinda like holding the gas pedal down to the floor then holding the car back to the correct speed with the break...lol Sorry i'm just too clumsy and not brave enough to try it.

[billyo]

Originally Posted by Musicman51

I've never seen any live acts ever run their power amps to the screaming point just to hold the power back by another means. Kinda like holding the gas pedal down to the floor then holding the car back to the correct speed with the break...lol Sorry i'm just too clumsy and not brave enough to try it.

you should try it, sounds will come out better, just make sure all your mixing boards volume slider is turned all the way down ,then turn your power amp on to full level ,then turn your boards main volume slider gradually till you get the proper volume for that particular venue size ,watch those little lights flicker on your boards mains volume make sure that it doesn't turn red ( clipping point )...( i'm sure you know this )

[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