Breakin' em in...

gregure

I've read a lot on the forum about breaking speakers in, and having them start to perform better after playing them for awhile. Well, I thought I'd had mine for awhile, and had noticed some improvements after upgrading receivers, speaker cables, and finally the digital coax. However, I thought I probably missed the boat in noticing a difference from break in, because of all of the tweaking. Well, not so. I was playing some music yesterday, and it was absolutely amazing how much better things sounded. Granted, I hadn't played too much music since the coax upgrade, but all of a sudden the soundfield just seemed to expand. Presence was much better, and mids rang out in a way they hadn't before. I'm not sure if the effect is supposed to be so sudden, but that's how I've perceived it. I guess I'm just marveling at the fact that these speakers sound better than ever, after a nearly 6 months. Could someone please explain to me the concept behind this? What exactly is happening within the speaker to make the sound better after a period of break in? Thanks.

F1nut

Funny, I never thought of a digital coax as a upgrade. Try some high quality analog cables if you really want to upgrade.

Speaker break in happens as the drivers flex/loosen up and the crossover components burn in.

organ

I agree with F1. Use the analog outs. The biggest difference I heard with break-in is with the LSi9. My 800i and Klipsch did improve but not as big of an improvement as the LSi.

Maurice

gregure

Thanks for the responses. As for the coax upgrade, I upgraded from a regular coax to the better cables silver serpent, and noticed a big difference. I prefer using the coax, as the sound is superb. I've tried using a couple of high quality analogs, but I just don't feel the sound for music is any better that way. In fact, I think it's better with the coax. Just my personal preference. Plus, my DVD player only has one set of analogs, and I prefer to send them to the TV than the receiver. Sometimes I want to just watch a DVD using the TV speakers rather than the Polks.

kureboy99

the cables are also breaking in...esentially the entire chain is getting used to the signal path...changing a cable such as an interconnect can change not only the sound but the path since every cable has a different resistance, capacitance, etc...so if you get a new cable...I would suggest keep burning in the system for more time...sounds like overkill but it will pay off in the end. PLaying classical and rock music non-stop breaks the speakres and cables in the best since it sweeps most of the audio spectrum on most good source material in those categories. Happy listening :cool: