New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

how do i break-in speakers?

post #1 of 27
7/3/05 at 7:24pm
Thread Starter 
I'm about to get the altec lansing mx5021, and i just wanna know how to break them in, so i get the bang for my buck.
can anyone help?
Reply
post #2 of 27
7/3/05 at 7:25pm
Play music through them.
Reply
post #3 of 27
7/3/05 at 8:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by philodox
Play music through them.
What just play music with them?! What do you think he is a fool?! Honestly mate what you have to do is:
Rub the top of all your cds in butter to smooth and warm up the sound, and play them in order from low dynamics to high dynamics, I suggest something like compressed pop to start with, followed by a full symphony!
Whilst doing this keep the volume low to start with for a few days, then wind it up, notice how much more detailed and bassy your new speakers have become!
Note: I'm in a cynical mood today, ignore all my posts!
I liked the mx5021's for their detailed sound for the money, but I grew tired of them after a week as the bass is rubbish. They also sound strangely artificial and lifeless, after a while you may notice what I mean. They're just bad compared to my ancient videologic siroccos, they look great though.
Reply
post #4 of 27
7/3/05 at 8:22pm
I don't think the 5021 even tries to be in the same league as the Sirocco. Isn't the Sirocco like $700??
Reply
post #5 of 27
7/3/05 at 8:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by okdivad78
I'm about to get the altec lansing mx5021, and i just wanna know how to break them in, so i get the bang for my buck.
can anyone help?
Generally, just using them at normal listening levels will break them in. If you want a more rigorous approach, you might check out the answer to the same question that was posted here. Just don't get carried away and blast them for the first 24 - 48 hours.

Hope you enjoy the new setup. I checked the Altec Lansing site, and they look like a lot of speaker for the money.

Regards,

BW
Reply
post #6 of 27
7/3/05 at 10:28pm
Listen to them at a normal safe volume for a while, then crank them up every once in a while and let em burn.

When I got my PM4.1's, the bass wasn't all that impressive. I listened to them but day by day things improved only marginally. My friend came over and played some insanely bassy Eminem music at dangerous volumes for an hour or so (much to my dismay). As soon as he left I kicked on some of my music and was AMAZED. They sounded twice as good.
Reply
post #7 of 27
7/3/05 at 10:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by okdivad78
I'm about to get the altec lansing mx5021, and i just wanna know how to break them in, so i get the bang for my buck.
can anyone help?
Here's what's commonly done to minimize noise during break-in. Place both speakers so that they are perfectly facing each other a couple inches apart. Reverse the speaker wires for only one of the speakers (+ speaker wire to - speaker terminal). Now play music on infinite repeat at volume level slightly higher than your usual listening level. Reversing the phase on one speaker will cancel out a lot of sound generated.

Throw a large, thick blanket over the entire thing and leave it alone for a few days/weeks depending on level of your OCD.
Reply
post #8 of 27
7/4/05 at 12:08am
They dont burn in - so dont even bother, IMO. Just use it normal.

If I cant burn in my Polks, you wont be able to burn in your computer speakers either.
Reply
post #9 of 27
7/4/05 at 1:54am
Quote:
Listen to them at a normal safe volume for a while, then crank them up every once in a while and let em burn.
Close,very very close.......

Just like with a brand new car or rebuilt engine you have to pamper them a bit before you let out the monster and hit some serious spls.Dynamic music with a range of loud and soft but played at levels where conversation is not a shout and yell but at normal tones to be understood.A few days for everything to stretch a bit and to get the "brand new" stiffness and you can ramp up to almost loud but I would still not push them for a couple of weeks just to be safe.
you will have music but just not lease breaking music for a bit
Reply
post #10 of 27
7/4/05 at 6:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by okdivad78
I'm about to get the altec lansing mx5021, and i just wanna know how to break them in, so i get the bang for my buck.
can anyone help?
Place both speakers front to front, with no or minimal distance. Reverse the phase on one of them (connect plus wire to minus connector and vice versa). Then play music or noise through them as loud as your neighborhood allows (but take care to avoid distortion!) for a couple of days. The reversed phase has the effect to cancel most of the sound, especially low frequencies.

Actually there's no need for a dedicated break in -- normal use will break them in as well --, but the procedure will allow you to accelerate the process and benefit earlier from the full sonic capacity. Contrary to the advices in this thread loud volume levels won't hurt new speakers. They don't need to be treated more carefully than broken-in speakers, unlike car motors. Higher break-in volumes will offer faster results.

Reply
post #11 of 27
7/4/05 at 6:30am
could be dangerous but if you know what you are doing, run a tone generator program. i let it run 30hz and turn the volume on not too loud. now you cant really tell how loud when the bass is that low. but you can tell by how much the driver is vibrating. but normally i turn the knob at the volume that isnt dangerous. i live by myself, so i jsut leave it on when i leave the house. too much of low frequencies is unhealthy to be around.

its a fast way of burning in. or borrow some of my doom metal cds and play it loud.
Reply
post #12 of 27
7/4/05 at 7:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by terrymx
...run a tone generator program. i let it run 30hz...
Not the best idea. That way only the woofer gets broken in. And there's still a certain likelihood that a mix of several frequencies will have greater effect, since it's possibly not just the drivers' suspensions increasing compliance and elasticity, but also the membranes themselves could benefit from vibrations of different frequencies. Finally sine waves cause highest membrane amplitude, thus highest mechanical charge, but not highest travel. I'd rather suggest to just play music or interstation noise. So squawker and tweeter will also benefit from break-in.

Reply
post #13 of 27
7/4/05 at 7:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by okdivad78
I'm about to get the altec lansing mx5021, and i just wanna know how to break them in, so i get the bang for my buck.
can anyone help?
i wont repeat what the others have said, but fwiw, imo the mx5021 is an excellent sounding multimedia system at it's price point. simply unbeatable!
Reply
post #14 of 27
7/4/05 at 10:51am
Quote:
Contrary to the advices in this thread loud volume levels won't hurt new speakers. They don't need to be treated more carefully than broken-in speakers, unlike car motors. Higher break-in volumes will offer faster results.
The speaker manufacturers mostly do not agree with that statement though some do.My way ius if there isa 50/50 split or close to err on the side of caution.That way causes zero harm,the other possible harm.If the manufacturers of high end speakers can not decide it is good enough for me to be cautious if the investment high.
I would never use a pure tone or noise for this proceedure however.Even at moderate volume this could over time overheat the voice coils if played continuously and being repetitive not truly representitive of a music signal which is varying in the extreme and unpredictable.
I beleive many confuse breaking in cables or electronics where most use a warble or steady state tone with a load on the device with speakers which which ARE the load and are a mechanical device and not strictly an electronic device so parts move and will be stiff straight off the assembly line just like a new paitr of shoes.Same with headphones.I break them in by listening to music but never do I push them hard for the first week.May mean nothing but I see no point in taking the chance even if it is small of ruining them right out of the gate.
Reply
post #15 of 27
7/4/05 at 10:52am
Quote:
Contrary to the advices in this thread loud volume levels won't hurt new speakers. They don't need to be treated more carefully than broken-in speakers, unlike car motors. Higher break-in volumes will offer faster results.
The speaker manufacturers mostly do not agree with that statement though some do.My way ius if there isa 50/50 split or close to err on the side of caution.That way causes zero harm,the other possible harm.If the manufacturers of high end speakers can not decide it is good enough for me to be cautious if the investment high.
I would never use a pure tone or noise for this proceedure however.Even at moderate volume this could over time overheat the voice coils if played continuously and being repetitive not truly representitive of a music signal which is varying in the extreme and unpredictable.
I beleive many confuse breaking in cables or electronics where most use a warble or steady state tone with a load on the device with speakers which which ARE the load and are an electro-mechanical device,not strictly an electronic device so parts move and will be stiff straight off the assembly line just like a new paitr of shoes.Same with headphones.I break them in by listening to music but never do I push them hard for the first week.May mean nothing but I see no point in taking the chance even if it is small of ruining them right out of the gate.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home