Breaking in new sub-woofer?

[05trailblazer 10+ year member]

i was Assuming that since its a myth

Confirms my suspicion.
I know from personal experience I build a sub and "break in" consists of beating it with everyting I've got. If it fails it's because I fuxed up building it....or am just abusing it (I've broken subs at all stages of their life cycle through abuse).

I suspect the common failures we hear about are from poor quality materials and adhesives or poor quality control in the build process...or some combination.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Please allow two weeks of break-in time for the subwoofer to reach optimum performance. To get the best performancefrom your new Kicker subwoofers, we recommend using genuine Kicker Accessories and Wiring.

this if from the kicke cvr owners manual its located right under the wiring diagram of the speakers i got 2 12'' cvr but i didnt give the full tilt untill about 5 or 6 days after i got them then my F****** amp fried so i orderd a new one and im waiting on it to get here and i will again give them a few days to get their work out on but i dont think it takes 2 weeks just go eazy for a few days the crank the S**** up if it breaks take it back

If you had "broken in" your subs you wouldn't have smoked your amp :rolleyes

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Please allow two weeks of break-in time for the subwoofer to reach optimum performance. To get the best performancefrom your new Kicker subwoofers, we recommend using genuine Kicker Accessories and Wiring.

this if from the kicke cvr owners manual its located right under the wiring diagram of the speakers i got 2 12'' cvr but i didnt give the full tilt untill about 5 or 6 days after i got them then my F****** amp fried so i orderd a new one and im waiting on it to get here and i will again give them a few days to get their work out on but i dont think it takes 2 weeks just go eazy for a few days the crank the S**** up if it breaks take it back

Im guessing you didnt read the thread.

And just to address your quote from your Kicker owner's manual, right after they suggest a 'break-in' period, they also claim you must use Kicker wire to 'get the best performance from your new Kicker subwoofers', which should give you some insight into the validity of their recommendations.

Ive already explained in pretty good detail why, above, so I feel its fair to simply say you are incorrect in your assessment that a break-in period is necessary. If you want to understand why I say this, read the thread.

 

[Chrisw21 10+ year member]

If you had "broken in" your subs you wouldn't have smoked your amp :rolleyes

I know this topic is a couple months old now, but I just got to read it. The "smoked amp" scenario is what I was wondering about in regards to breaking in a sub. Think of it this way. A speaker and a motor are very similar. Both use electrical energy, magnets, and induced magnetic fields to generate motion. Well, what happens when an electrical motor (say a pool pump) locks up? It draws excess current and will burn out. Why wouldn't a speaker do the same???? If the motion of the coil is limited (due to a stiff surround) wouldn't the reduced/slowed travel cause an increase in current flow from the amp, possibly overheating/damaging the voice coil or damaging an amp with poor or no protection modes?? Am I missing something here? Anyone have an old speaker to try this out on? What would happen if the voicecoil was locked to prevent movement and current was passed through? I know that a new speaker will still move, although maybe less than a "broken in" speaker will, but if huge amounts of power are applied it seems to me that the reduced motion may translate in to potentially damaging heat or excess current draw. Thoughts???

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

I know this topic is a couple months old now, but I just got to read it. The "smoked amp" scenario is what I was wondering about in regards to breaking in a sub. Think of it this way. A speaker and a motor are very similar. Both use electrical energy, magnets, and induced magnetic fields to generate motion. Well, what happens when an electrical motor (say a pool pump) locks up? It draws excess current and will burn out. Why wouldn't a speaker do the same???? If the motion of the coil is limited (due to a stiff surround) wouldn't the reduced/slowed travel cause an increase in current flow from the amp, possibly overheating/damaging the voice coil or damaging an amp with poor or no protection modes?? Am I missing something here? Anyone have an old speaker to try this out on? What would happen if the voicecoil was locked to prevent movement and current was passed through? I know that a new speaker will still move, although maybe less than a "broken in" speaker will, but if huge amounts of power are applied it seems to me that the reduced motion may translate in to potentially damaging heat or excess current draw. Thoughts???

A speaker whose motor is 'locked up' will not draw excess current.

Usually when a motor locks up, the lack of cooling means the coil will simply fail, and open the circuit, long before you'd have any reason to worry about the amplifier being damaged.

 

[Chrisw21 10+ year member]

OK... So in that regard a speaker is not like an AC motor?? When an AC motor first starts up, it is basically a zero ohm short, but the alternating current passing through the wire coil, along with the magnetic field in the stator causes rotation, thus increasing resistance as the induced magnetic field interacts with the field of the ferrous magnets. I think I understand the difference, but it has been 20+ years since my electronics days. Sorry, not trying to beat a dead horse here, just trying to recall the things I used to know before I discovered girls, beer, and other "God given" recreational products //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/satan.gif.9c6a335ed7aeeed3ee273e573f1fcaac.gif

 

[i2ain2thunder 10+ year member]

In my own opinion what Audioholic says is true, you can beat on the sub the second you put it in (with proper power) and break in to me does not mean taking it easy on the sub. To me break in means the sub has been used enough to perform as holic said nominally. For example the more your sub "breaks in" the louder it will become and usually the lower it will play with relative ease....your first time playing it it isn't going to be as loud or low as it can, that takes time. Honestly I've banged on some subs for like 8 years and every year I could tell a difference in how low and loud they were.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

OK... So in that regard a speaker is not like an AC motor?? When an AC motor first starts up, it is basically a zero ohm short, but the alternating current passing through the wire coil, along with the magnetic field in the stator causes rotation, thus increasing resistance as the induced magnetic field interacts with the field of the ferrous magnets. I think I understand the difference, but it has been 20+ years since my electronics days. Sorry, not trying to beat a dead horse here, just trying to recall the things I used to know before I discovered girls, beer, and other "God given" recreational products //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/satan.gif.9c6a335ed7aeeed3ee273e573f1fcaac.gif

Electric motors require more power at start-up because as the motor starts to rotate, inertia wants to keep the motor moving. But when first starting, there is no inertial force. This is why many large motors need a starting capacitor, to get the rotation up to speed quickly, and minimize strain on the supply circuit.

A speaker starts and stops many many times per second, so the initial start of cone motion when the radio is first turned on is no more drastic of a strain than is any of the other hundreds/thousands of times it will stop/start while operating normally.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

OK... So in that regard a speaker is not like an AC motor?? When an AC motor first starts up, it is basically a zero ohm short, but the alternating current passing through the wire coil, along with the magnetic field in the stator causes rotation, thus increasing resistance as the induced magnetic field interacts with the field of the ferrous magnets. I think I understand the difference, but it has been 20+ years since my electronics days. Sorry, not trying to beat a dead horse here, just trying to recall the things I used to know before I discovered girls, beer, and other "God given" recreational products //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/satan.gif.9c6a335ed7aeeed3ee273e573f1fcaac.gif

Most woofers also have DC resistance of 1-4 ohms so even if you just threw a signal at a coil laying on the table you would still see at least that. Some would say 1 ohm is pretty close to a dead short, but still, if you're running that it should be because your amp is designed to drive that load