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250 hours and 5 day ‘settling in’!

Coincidentally just this week I asked a chap I know who works for one of the world’s largest driver manufacturers about ‘burn-in’, he said that the majority of any changes will occur within the first few hours and after that exponentially.
Keith
 
Agreed; when I have researched and/or measured, most of the changes occur within seconds to minutes, then more gradually over time. Most audible changes take just minutes IME/IMO.
 
Maybe the disclaimer is there to allows the brain to 'adjust' and get used to the presentation of the speaker.
The give away would be the 'after you move them a meter' part.

Most people report a similar effect with speakers and headphones they bought...
.... 'after a week the sound stabilized and now it sounds great' is seen in many amateur 'reviews'.
 
250 is as of nothing compared to the reigning world champions, Audio Research who recommend 650 !
They don’t mention ‘settling in’ though.
Keith
 
Maybe the disclaimer is there to allows the brain to 'adjust' and get used to the presentation of the speaker.
The give away would be the 'after you move them a meter' part.

Most people report a similar effect with speakers and headphones they bought...
.... 'after a week the sound stabilized and now it sounds great' is seen in many amateur 'reviews'.

That is my guess; it heads off snap judgments that could even also come at the same time as buyers remorse.
It probably cuts back on a lot of phone calls from people that aren't blown away by their new purchase. And those same people would likely say "I tried moving them all over the room and didn't hear any improvement"

It could be just a nice way of saying "Calm down, give them a chance, you'll like them" But it does add to audio myths in the process.
 
Considering the horrible frequency response of the Boenickes, it would seem eminently sensible to insist people keep them long enough so dealers don't have to take them back under any 7 or 14 day return scheme.
They're not stupid!

PS, cynical, moi?
 
It’s ok Serge because the manufacturer is a musician.
Keith
 
250 is as of nothing compared to the reigning world champions, Audio Research who recommend 650 !
They don’t mention ‘settling in’ though.
Keith

Good they don't mention "settling in". Otherwise, it's hell to get them to leave.
 
Maybe the disclaimer is there to allows the brain to 'adjust' and get used to the presentation of the speaker.
The give away would be the 'after you move them a meter' part.

Most people report a similar effect with speakers and headphones they bought...
.... 'after a week the sound stabilized and now it sounds great' is seen in many amateur 'reviews'.

Beyerdynamic actually say that on their website, it's not about "burning in" equipment, it's about adjusting to the sound. However that doesn't fit the audiophile mythology as well as pretending that equipment needs hundreds of hours to burn in and now apparently to settle as it is an admission that people tend to just get used to and like particularly sounds after a while.
 
Considering the horrible frequency response of the Boenickes, it would seem eminently sensible to insist people keep them long enough so dealers don't have to take them back under any 7 or 14 day return scheme.
They're not stupid!

PS, cynical, moi?

Exactly... that's what happens when you listen to the newest shiny speakers in your favourite hi-fi shop. The dealer cannot explain more clearly how awesome they sound and how technically advanced they are.
Then, when you are putting those two heavy boxes on your cars, the same guy tell you you need to let them play for at least a 100 hours.
 
Maybe the disclaimer is there to allows the brain to 'adjust' and get used to the presentation of the speaker.
Yep, that's called burning ears in:eek:... the best being listening at 130dB SPLo_O, then as you're going deaf, you've adjusted all right! :p
 
Surely fully assembled speakers are tested in the factory prior to shipping them out as part of QC. Wouldn't burn-in fall part of QC? If not, why not?

What incentive would the manufacturer have to send out a product that is initially poor? Doesn't make sense to me.
 
The thing is, there are people who want to believe this stuff. One reason audiophile snake oil and nonsense about burn in persists is because there are people who want to believe in it.
 
It took almost 30 years for my bass units to burn in. I didn't realise that so many of my albums with heavy bass actually had distortion.
I tried various DACs and music players and they all gave the same result.
I did wonder if the roll surround and spider had sagged over the years allowing the pole piece to touch at it's back top edge but I dismissed the idea.;)
 
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