breaking in subs

[budahbuddy803 10+ year member]

i have always wanted to know if breaking in a sub is nessicary. i have always heard if you do not break in the sub you will regret it but i have broken in subs and not and hadnt ever been able to tell the diffrence. please help me out and tell me what will happen if you dont break a sub in and what happens when you do!

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[AndonD454 10+ year member]

holy **** man do you perform a search before any of these threads? we just got bombed with noob threads.. come on..

for a quick simple answer, no dont worry abotu breaking them in, they will break themselves in. doesnt do anything for power handling, doesnt blow subs, etc.

 

[Defconx3 10+ year member]

Generally speaking, all that happens is the suspension loosens up a little bit. Its always best to listen to the manufacturer's instructions, if it says break it in, then do it. If not, don't waste your time.

 

[SBLAZER]

juss wang away, take it easy for couple of songs then juss wang it

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Read the sig.

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

Read the sig.

i like the sig //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

these are subwoofers not baseball gloves. manufactors do that in case a noob cranks up the bass and blows the sub instantly the manufactor can say well you didn't break it in.

 

[DFW40 10+ year member]

Read the sig.

Power wires next to the actual input on the amps will cause noise but not running them side by side like you said.

You do not need to break in subs but if it is a brand new sub and it is 5 degrees out I would not give a sub its full power using a 35hz test tone. Depending on the sub and the stiffness of the suspension it will loosen up a bit and have a little more low end and become more efficient.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Power wires next to the actual input on the amps will cause noise but not running them side by side like you said.

Yeah, that's why all the amps that have their power input on the same side as the RCA inputs have noise. Oh...wait..... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

Depending on the sub and the stiffness of the suspension it will loosen up a bit and have a little more low end and become more efficient.

Yes, they will loosen up. And that will happen with regular, normal, everyday use. They'll continually loosen up with use over their entire life span.

 

[DFW40 10+ year member]

Yeah, that's why all the amps that have their power input on the same side as the RCA inputs have noise. Oh...wait..... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif


My amps are not like that but anyways in my previous setup I had some noise and worked on finding it for about 4 hours trying new grounds etc. Well it turns out the one end of the sub amp with the power wire was right up next to the inputs of the mids/highs amp...about 1 inch apart on my apm rack. When I moved the power wire away from the inputs it went away and I could move it closer and and you could hear the sound coming back. Maybe the amps were too close together or the fan motor inside the sub amp caused some issues but when I seperated the two the noise was gone.

 

[CBFryman2 5,000+ posts]

When current flows it induces voltage in surrounding conductors. However, properly sheilded conductors have nothing to worry about and any current that is flowing in the power wire is flowing in the chassis sooooo yeah. Plus we arent talking about AC current so they cant induce hum.

 

[DFW40 10+ year member]

The inputs on the amps are not shielded like cables. Plus I know the power wire right next to it was causing the noise, I know this because I would take it closer and hear the hum get stronger and take in away and the noise would get lesser. This might have been an isolated issue but it sure did it that day. I have been screwing with this crap for about 18 years. I might not be able to prove it through electrical engineering but yes it did happen.

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

i have always wanted to know if breaking in a sub is nessicary. i have always heard if you do not break in the sub you will regret it but i have broken in subs and not and hadnt ever been able to tell the diffrence. please help me out and tell me what will happen if you dont break a sub in and what happens when you do!

When I bought the DAT M6 12" I run currently I acquired it retail as I wanted the warranty.

The manager of the shop was the one helping me "audition" the sub in my car and I asked him what he thought of the theory regarding 'breaking in' subs before you really get down on 'em and demand heaps of output from them.

His response was to grin at me, went and got a DMM out of the install bay, checked the settings on my monoblock for himself, and then got back in my car and gave the volume knob on my HU a very liberal twist clockwise.

After bangin' on it for several minutes in that fashion he turned it back down and told me to expect a bit of output increase once the suspension well and truly loosened up but there was no reason in the world to take it easy on it when it was still "fresh out of the box" new. This was the guy that would have had to take the hit on a warranty replacement (3 yr warranty on DAT drivers if bought from and installed by an authorized dealer ~ installation in my case being securing it into its enclosure and placing it in my trunk for me //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif ) if treating it that way could have damaged it.

I, too, used to subscribe to the theory regarding a break-in period. In some respects it makes sense just to hear someone talk about it.

Since seeing that manager crank on it straight out of the box and advise me to continue doing so once I was away from his shop I reckon it is a waste of time. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[nissanrider06 10+ year member]

hey squeak,

i know probably 95% of the time breaking in isnt neccesary but my friend did screw his sub by not breaking it in (although it was a pretty shitty sub), i wouldnt just wang away but thats just me

and i did notice quite a bit of differance in SQ of my subs when i switched from my kenwood 4028 to my pioneer 7700 ( 4v to 2v) you dont think that was from the preout voltage? wat else could of done it? im seriously asking not being sarcastic, if it sounds that way

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

hey squeak,
i know probably 95% of the time breaking in isnt neccesary but my friend did screw his sub by not breaking it in (although it was a pretty shitty sub), i wouldnt just wang away but thats just me

He did not damage it by failing to break it in. There are hundreds of reasons why it might have failed, but because he did not "break it in" is not one of them.

and i did notice quite a bit of differance in SQ of my subs when i switched from my kenwood 4028 to my pioneer 7700 ( 4v to 2v) you dont think that was from the preout voltage?

No (assuming you properly readjusted your gain). There is no sonic difference between 2V and 4V.

Think about it this way. If there were, the sound quality would decrease every time you turned down the volume //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

wat else could of done it?

YOU COMPLETELY CHANGED HEADUNITS. Seriously, you just changed HUNDREDS of variables. How could you possibly attempt to claim that the change in sound was associated to (or even possibly associated with) ONE single variable of those HUNDREDS of variables that changed?

There are HUNDREDS of reasons why it might have sounded different. Assuming a properly readjusted gain, the difference of preout voltage is not one of them.

 

[Beat_Dominator 5,000+ posts]

Lol didn't know this was already discussed squeak //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif

 

[nissanrider06 10+ year member]

lol whoa there settle down squeak!!! idk i just though it could of been something like there crossovers, or rca connections or something weird like that im not a HU expert, just tryin to learn //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

lol whoa there settle down squeak!!! idk i just though it could of been something like there crossovers, or rca connections or something weird like that im not a HU expert, just tryin to learn //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Yes, if you used the built in crossovers that might have contributed to the difference you heard.

If you set the gain differently, that might have contributed.

There are way too many reasons to even attempt to sit here and list them all. Just know that one of those reasons is NOT because of the preout voltage.

 

[CBFryman2 5,000+ posts]

Break in is for listener only. SPL compeditors break in suspension but that is to get louder.

Friend of mine who used to compeat said when he got his two DD 9515's he wired the coils in series, pluged them into the wall for 2min free air and called it a day for break in period.

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