Breaking in a NEW sub

[zimmer82 10+ year member]

How do you correctly break in a new sub? Play it at moderate volumes?

I'm wondering because my Alpine Type R is coming in within a few days. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/inlove.gif.6846f78f06b405429ef3a00129788a2a.gif

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[jacko 10+ year member]

some ppl say breaking isn't nessacery...(i dont think it is) but if you want to just set the amp gain about 1/2 wut u usually would for however long u think is needed. personally i just run it for like 1-2 minutes to make sure everything is okay, then see how it moves!

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Yes the notion of breaking in a sub is simply playing it at moderate volume levels (well some people use pink noise etc). I wont get into the debate of whether or not its necessary (as that's not what you asked //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif), but I will say I can almost always hear as my new sub's suspension loosens up, output goes up and the distortion threshhold goes down. If you listen critically and pay attention over the first week or two of running the sub (depending on amount of listening time), you will hear it too.

 

[hookdupexpo 10+ year member]

A little bit off topic, but thought it would be easier than starting a new thread....would it be beneficial to break in a reconed sub? or is it still broken in? im not really sure.

 

[9512ds 5,000+ posts]

i would play it easy on a reconed sub also...when i was breaking in my new sub i could slowly start to hear a difference in a week

 

[iLL-Faded 10+ year member]

play volums around 5-10 for 2 weeks then ur set

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Plug it in and start listening to it like normal. It will break in on it's own over time with regular, normal use.

 

[bamaboy 5,000+ posts]

RE says breakin is not needed, take what you want out of that, but kicker says their subs need to be broken in i read somewhere so it depends on company or sub or whatever

 

[jsloan10 10+ year member]

I compare it to breaking in a new pair of jeans, as the jeans age they become more pliable and comfortable like the suspention of a subwoofer, the spider softens up over time and provides less resistance to movment increasing sensitivity and deepening the tone slightly.

When I first bought my Eclipse 8712.8's I thought they sounded crappy, they had crappy sensitivity and didn't sound right, so I went back to the retailer and he explained that the suspention needed time to break in and that once it had softened up the 8700's would kick ***, he was absolutely right they sounded like a completely different sub after 3months and to this day I still think those are the nicest subs I ever owned (stolen..sob, sniff..)

Some facts I was told-

Sealed boxes will increase the time it takes to break in the sub as the sealed box limits excursion compared to ported

The time it takes can vary from 1 to 6 months depending on how often you use the subs and what kind of enclosure

You can speed up the process by playing a low wattage tone overnight to the sub.

-play a tone close to the FS of the sub

-play the sub "free air" and ensure that the rear vent is not blocked.

-only 20 to 50 watts will be required for full excursion since the sub is playing with no enclosure.

-check the sub after an hour to make sure its not overheating, warm is normal but hot with the smell of burning glue means you are using more wattage then you need to.

hope that helps

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Phone up Alpine //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

Why?

I'm not saying subs don't "break-in". I think common sense will tell you they do. However, to only using a sub to a small portion of it's potential isn't going to do anything for the sub (the "keep it at half or 1/3 volume for a week" crowd). Only way to "break in" a sub is to use the blasted thing. Plug 'er in and start using it, and she'll loosen up with normal useage.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

http://forums.caraudio.com/vb/showthread.php?t=100899

Ah.....gotcha ya //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

 

[jsloan10 10+ year member]

"Actually, the efficiency/sensitivity is rarely affected a significant amount ..."

Best description that I could think of short notice.

 

[zimmer82 10+ year member]

Phone up Alpine //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

ok a$shole

 

[JAZN 5,000+ posts]

ok a$shole

lol it's jmac, whatd u expect.

 

[iLL-Faded 10+ year member]

ok lets do this, when you get your sub turn it up all the way.. lol my friend did that for his alpine type-r's and he blew 2 12" but luckly he got it replaced since the people over there didt tell him to break in his sub