Do Audio Speakers Break-in?

[DVDdoug]

My biggest issue is - If burn-in is needed, why doesn't the manufacture burn-in at the factory?

And the manufacturer should verify the specs before the item is shipped, not assume it's going to be in-spec after some burn-in time. Although I assume most speaker manufacturer's don't thoroughly test every single speaker.

I've worked in electronics (non-audio) for a few decades. Most of the companies I've worked for burn-in their products before shipping (usually between one day and one week at elevated temperature). Where I currently work it's 2-days. The burn-in is NOT to improve the specs/performance, it's to weed-out early failures.

The units are tested before and after burn-in. That doubles the testing-cost but the actual burn-in essentially costs nothing, other than a delay. And in fact, more units/boards fail before burn-in (manufacturing defects or component defects) than after. Post burn-in failures are rare and most are actually manufacturing defects (an intermittent solder joint, etc.) rather than a component failing or aging & drifting out of spec.

I realize that a speaker is different from a purely-electronic device/product, but if electronics can be burned-in at the factory, speakers can also be burned-in at the factory.

 

[mansr]

Although I assume most speaker manufacturer's don't thoroughly test every single speaker.

What do you mean by thoroughly? At the prices some charge, they damn well should do at least a frequency sweep and check for any obvious anomalies.

 

[Inner Space]

I realize that a speaker is different from a purely-electronic device/product, but if electronics can be burned-in at the factory, speakers can also be burned-in at the factory.

Copied from a comment I put on another thread:

I have followed the burn-in "debate" from the very beginning, in a car-crash rubbernecking kind of way, and these are my impressions:

It wasn't generated by manufacturers or the press. It was invented solely by a certain type of customer, and manufacturers and the press were somewhat late to the party.

It's a deep psychological need among that certain type of customer. Ownership isn't enough, because anyone can plunk down a credit card. Hence a performative ritual was necessary, to stake a meaningful claim, and to demonstrate superior knowledge and discrimination. The ritual involved time, effort, precision and concern. It "earned" status through work.

A parallel can be seen in investment ads. The brokers don't say, "Hey, gamble a few bucks and see if you get lucky." Instead they say, "As you work to build your portfolio ... " They use strong, muscular, active and performative words.

The most famous exemplar is the food industry research reported in the 1950s by Vance Packard. An all-in-one cake mix was introduced. Just add water. But it sold badly. Research showed housewives felt guilty ... they wanted to feel this was their cake. So the dried egg was removed. Now it was just add water and beat in an egg. Adding the egg was a performative act that "claimed" the cake for the maker. The new mix sold much, much better.

Now we see the same thing 70 years later. Connecting wires isn't enough. Sleeves must be rolled up, attention must be paid, hard work must be done. Only then has the customer "earned" his new piece.

 

[krabapple]

I've worked in electronics (non-audio) for a few decades. Most of the companies I've worked for burn-in their products before shipping (usually between one day and one week at elevated temperature). Where I currently work it's 2-days. The burn-in is NOT to improve the specs/performance, it's to weed-out early failures.

I would call that something like 'quality management'.

Did the companies actually call it 'burn-in'?

 

[LTig]

I've worked in electronics (non-audio) for a few decades. Most of the companies I've worked for burn-in their products before shipping (usually between one day and one week at elevated temperature). Where I currently work it's 2-days. The burn-in is NOT to improve the specs/performance, it's to weed-out early failures.

This makes sense because - as the saying goes - electronics dies either within the first 10 hours of usage or after 10 years. I'm quite sure this does not apply to speaker chassis. Maybe to the crossover if the caps are not chosen well.

 

[Sal1950]

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...re-that-casts-doubt-on-asr-objectivism.23618/

Ah, thanks, I missed that one somehow. After I don't remember how many years I've been having those arguments on the internet, I tend to try and stay out of most. Plenty of guys with more tech background than me here to step in with better ammo than me, besides I've grown tired of typing the same old crap over and over to a majority of people that will not listen anyway.
The very best part of this site is that we are in the majority. LOL

 

[Freeway]

Why are your speakers not burned in? You are not playing them loud enough. Concert level.
According to who? Zu, that's who.
https://www.zuaudio.com/questions-list/2013/8/18/what-is-burn-in

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Why are your speakers not burned in? You are not playing them loud enough. Concert level.
According to who? Zu, that's who.
https://www.zuaudio.com/questions-list/2013/8/18/what-is-burn-in

Oh, now I believe it.

 

[mallikreddyk]

Speakers do burn in, It is pretty easy to verify. With Dayton Dats V3 , Measure the the Fs of a brand new Woofer , then run it hard for an hour with any music(or100hz sinewave) . Then measure it again. the Fs would have dropped. the Woofer spider which is stiffened by additives, flexes a little and gets rid of excess. Once the Fs of Woofer stops dropping, they are burned in,

https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/usa/en/blog/how-run-speakers

That Said, I dont believe in hudred/thousand hour burn-ins though. at that point, the thing between your ears would have burned in and adjusted to the new normal.

 

[Pennyless Audiophile]

When I first turned on my Tannoy Gold 7, I heard for about 10 or 15 seconds a "grschtreschgrscshthrch" sound that completely disappeared after those few seconds and never came back. That was probably all the burn in they needed, but I confess, I was alarmed for a few seconds.

 

[SIY]

Speakers do burn in, It is pretty easy to verify. With Dayton Dats V3 , Measure the the Fs of a brand new Woofer , then run it hard for an hour with any music(or100hz sinewave) . Then measure it again. the Fs would have dropped. the Woofer spider which is stiffened by additives, flexes a little and gets rid of excess. Once the Fs of Woofer stops dropping, they are burned in,

Confounder is temperature. The actual break in takes a few seconds.

And note again that fs is not the only parameter that changes, so the overall system response will, in most cases, barely shift.

 

[Night&Day]

Muted dynamics can be audible the first few hours and is probably due to stiff spider(s).

 

[dfuller]

The burn-in is NOT to improve the specs/performance, it's to weed-out early failures.

Some brands do do that - I believe ATC among others stresses their drivers to their mechanical limit for this very reason.

 

[KSTR]

Break-in (settling) depends on driver construction. A driver with a ceramic cone, soft suspension and open-mesh spider like an Accuton does not show any break-in (apart from a very insignifcant softening of the spider).
A more traditional driver with a thin paper cone (notably with curvi-linear shape) and stiff linen "accordion" surround and stiff impregnated spider does settle significantly, both in break-up behavior (cone has softend and has more inherent damping once broken-in) and in the ususal TSP changes. Most prominent example, though not directly HiFi-related, are guitar speakers and some PA midrange drivers and such. The point here that it takes significant levels of everything for break-in to happen fast: time, heat, excursion, acceleration, pressure on the cone. Means in HiFi usage, it may take almost forever to break in such a driver.
Another often neglected phenomenon is the loss of magnetic force either from too much heat or too much VC current, but that is not break-in, that is simple deterioration, shifting TSPs permantly.

 

[Frgirard]

Burn-in = wear

 

[KSTR]

Burn-in = wear

... but only when wear vs time is a bath-tub curve ;-)

 

[mallikreddyk]

Confounder is temperature. The actual break in takes a few seconds.

And note again that fs is not the only parameter that changes, so the overall system response will, in most cases, barely shift.

Correct , Fs is not the only parameter that changes, but it is simply theeasiest one to verify.
Some drivers are done in 10-15 mins, and some take more than an hour of pure sinewave brute force, higher if you keep the volume very low. I do this for every new driver and make sure that the Fs doesnt change anymore before taking measurements and designing a Crossover.

while the 100s of hours burn in is not true, it does take some time. I dont want you to take my word for it, It is easy to measure with a $150 Dats V3. Some highend manufacturers run stress tests for an hour or more, the burn in is completed at factory, but most budget products dont get that level of QC, so it will be for the customer to burn in.

 

[klatwork]

totally disagree with this......shocked you would say this.....Aluminum cones, yeah, it won't make a difference...but it makes a huge difference with paper cones... . I know for sure because I didn't set up all the speakers simultaneously...my surrounds got a 40 hour headstart than the LCR and they sound alot different from the surrounds. The new LCR sounds alot more harsh and less clarity. I let it run for a day in the home theater and wasn't listening and a day later they sound alot more similiar...so with paper cones you need break in. With metal cones, of course nothing is going to change.

the next paper cone speaker, run one 20 hours before you test a 2nd time...i'm sure the graphs won't look the same

 

[amirm]

totally disagree with this......shocked you would say this.....Aluminum cones, yeah, it won't make a difference...but it makes a huge difference with paper cones... . I know for sure because I didn't set up all the speakers simultaneously...my surrounds got a 40 hour headstart than the LCR and they sound alot different from the surrounds.

You have a before and after *loudspeaker* measurement you can share? I am not asking for driver measurements, but the complete speaker.

 

[klatwork]

You have a before and after *loudspeaker* measurement you can share? I am not asking for driver measurements, but the complete speaker.

no, it was years ago and I didn't do any before measurements because i was waiting for my complete set ...but it will be great if you can do that with your next paper cone speaker to test this hypothesis. I highly doubt it was my hearing or psychological perception. They really sounded awful out of the box and blended in much better a day later without me listening in between. On hindsight it does make sense to me because paper is not metal, paper softens up with use.... it will be great if you can test this out.