Breaking in subwoofers

[icu400]

I just heard you had to do this to protect your subs from blowing and to increase their output down the road. So a few questions:

1) what is this and how does it work

2) how long do you do it for, and in what conditions

3) what kind of music do you need to use, a straight tone, or what about something with not too much heavy bass?

4) tips, stories, and assorted info please

once again, thank you

 

[MONMIX]

hogwash

 

[icu400]

erm, could you tell me how to do it anyway, i doubt it would hurt

i am just trying to figure out what this means really

 

[Cartman]

You want to play them for about 20 hours at a moderate volume before you turn them up.

Normal music is good, volume high enough that the sub is moving, then increase over time.

Whether this is necassary or not I don't know but all subs that I've seen say to do this and you don't want to damage your new subs.

 

[mhn3773]

acording to the techs at focal there is no need to break in a sub just run the sh#t outa it...ofcourse that means nice clean power so dont turn the volume up untill the sub clips that most likely will cause pre-mature failure

 

[Critical_Level2]

The shop I go to has told me in the past play the subs for about 20-30 hours, with thegains turned down. They said don't play it at low volume all the time, now and then turn it up and make the subs work. Then after 20-30 hours of play they are "broken in" and you should fine tune your gain controls.

 

[expo5.0]

just play them normally

 

[mhn3773]

^ amen to that..kickers are still running hard =)

 

[typhoon43]

The reason some people recommend it is because the suspensions are at their stiffest when the sub is new. As you apply more power to, the VC's will heat up and loosen the sub. Some people think that if you go straight to pounding them you won't give your sub time to slowly loosen itself up to full linear travel.

I am still breaking in my 3 x.. 15's.. do I need to? Who knows. Do I want to send them back from Burping them 10 seconds after I put the amps in? No.

 

[mhn3773]

well even if they the suspensions come at there stiffest theres no way they could just never lossen up..so u wont get any more travel out of breaking in a sub..but good clean power is really the key to breaking in a sub..that also means good clean out put from the sub

if the sub gets muddy it is getting to hot if it sounds distorted u are either clipping it or feeding it to much power so its really one of things use ur kinda deals u know...obviously( to some people sigh)

but if anyone feels the need somewhere in here they is a quote from a focal?? tech that says u can give the sub full power from the get go just clean power

 

[Explorer94GV]

I would still break them in no matter what a focal rep. says. Keep your gains down on your amp and don't turn your bass knobs all the way up. 20 hours is long enough like people have said when they are freshly coned you need to allow vc to adjust. You blast that sucker I guarntee you that your vc will rip. Its like a rubber band you pull it to far it snaps. Same thing with the vc you try to get peak excursion out the box its not good for it.

 

[mixmasterhank]

well even if they the suspensions come at there stiffest theres no way they could just never lossen up..so u wont get any more travel out of breaking in a sub..but good clean power is really the key to breaking in a sub..that also means good clean out put from the sub

if the sub gets muddy it is getting to hot if it sounds distorted u are either clipping it or feeding it to much power so its really one of things use ur kinda deals u know...obviously( to some people sigh)

but if anyone feels the need somewhere in here they is a quote from a focal?? tech that says u can give the sub full power from the get go just clean power

Breaking them in is no myth. If you take a rubber band and stretch the hell out of it the first time you pick it up it'll break. But if you gradually stretch it it'll stretch further than your first try and for more times. (Bad example, I know, but that's all I could think of.)

I work for my dad's home audio/video hi-fi store where a pair of Watt-Puppies will cost you around $75000. Yes, thats 3 zeros after the 75. We recommend all of our higher end customers to break in their speakers for 20-30 hours at moderate volume. Now for car audio, you don't have to, but you paid for your subs and speakers, why not treat them like they were worth a lot more than they are, it's not going to hurt you at all, so you might as well.

 

[expo5.0]

it really is a myth... you think the speakers have never been used before they leave the factory?

the manufacturers i know the procedures for always "test" them substantially, sort of like breaking them in for you...

this is probably not true for crappy subs, but they still need no break in because what exactly is it supposed to do?

loosen them up? i don't think so, the rubber band analogy was awful. a speaker simply is different than a rubber band...

 

[BBQ_HotDogs]

We should call the "Myth Busters" on this one. It would be hard for me to imagine that once my "new" system is togeather that the installer isn't going to "test" the speakers. So that is going to kill any 20-30 hours I could do for it, I think. But 20-30 hours in a vehicle is a heck of a long time, unless you take a out of state trip or something.

 

[Mbrooks420]

I figured it can't hurt. I had the sub controls turned down, and didn't listen to it at full volume until I had over 10 hours on the sub.

 

[mixmasterhank]

Testing them is different than breaking them in buddy.

 

[Mbrooks420]

I understand the difference between the 2 words. I wasn't testing anything. It was obvious I wasn't anywhere near the limits.

 

[mhn3773]

Testing them is different than breaking them in buddy.

lol it is really??? because when u test u run sound through the sub and when u 'break in" u run sound through the sub

this also isnt a rubber band..the voice coil isnt some magical springy thingy that only moves when its warm

 

[97FordExpXLT]

break them in for sure....

Listen my first sub box I cranked right off the bat, no break in, nothing and smoked it in 3 days. I now have my second one and have had roughly 18 hours ran through it with the first 10 running a flat EQ. You put good money into your subs because you want them to sound good, why not treat them with respect? Good thing it was warranted or I would be out a bit of money. Polk have a bit of stiffer suspension than most subs and actually no joke recommend 70-80 hours break in time and that's cool, but I am like a small child on christmas day, lol. I'm still taking it easy though. Going to make sure they are broken in before I give it the true RMS again. I know the Polk is a SVC and in a sealed box, but I swear it is the cleanest sounding sub I have heard in a long time. Plus, it is under $200 and runs a 3 year "no questions asked" warranty. Eventually I will add another one with another RF amp. It's the only RF I will buy, the amps. Anyways, up to the owner. Just remember if it crackles turn it down. When breaking in your sub turn your amp gain down to about 35-45% and turn it up in time. I gave it the true 500 it is rated for and it bumped hard to the point where breathing was odd, but wasn't worth the time it the took to send it back under warranty and pay s/h, 45 bucks. If it pops again I will drop a bigger sub in the sealed box or get a postage paid slip for s/h this time around. One more thing, for all you EBAYers don't bother, warranties are scarce there, including factory warranties because if the person selling the equipment is unlicensed your sub is for the most part worthless.

Currently the amp is set at 50% gain and the treble over rides the bass a tad. (personal taste) EQ is more defined now and hasn't given me any trouble. I am moving the bar slowly up, but am taking my time this time around. I plan on staying at this set-up on the amp for another 30-50 hours before touching the gain and I know that sounds like a lot and is a lot of time, but better safe than extremely sorry with the provisions I have laid out in the time process of doing it the right way. Highly recommend breaking them in from a past lesson!

 

[mhn3773]

my friend used to "rent" subs and amps from best buy circuit city (dont ask)..but but he beat the hell out of all of those lol and they all laster 30days none of them ever had a problem..he had probably 6-8 sets of sub/amps anything from audiobahn to the JVC warren G series all were abused and all ran perfectly fine