Fi SSD 15" Break in

[Tek18 10+ year member]

Hey .,

about to order one of these subs, how to break it in ? i have never owned a subwoofer before so i have no idea how.. ive googled and they said run for 16 hours plugged in into your house through your amp ( not sure how that will work ) and play like 20-30hz break in music ( which i can't find on youtube or any download sites.. )

help! haha

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[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

Playing a 20hz tone free air through the sub running off a small amount of power just to get the sub moving a bit, for around 20 minutes should loosen it up a bit. You won't really need a break in if you aren't running a ton of power to the sub, or if you tend to dip below your box tuning. For the first couple days or so just don't go full tilt right away, do like 3/4 volume.

 

[Tek18 10+ year member]

Playing a 20hz tone free air through the sub running off a small amount of power just to get the sub moving a bit, for around 20 minutes should loosen it up a bit. You won't really need a break in if you aren't running a ton of power to the sub, or if you tend to dip below your box tuning. For the first couple days or so just don't go full tilt right away, do like 3/4 volume.

wheres a good place to download some 20hz music? and best way to run it for 20 minutes just sitting in the car with engine on?

 

[its10v1 10+ year member]

burn the track, when you've found a link to the test tone, onto a CD and put the track on repeat.

 

[Tek18 10+ year member]

^ that?

 

[wenn_du_weinst 10+ year member]

don't worry about it FI subs spiders are soft enough to not need broken in before use.

 

[its10v1 10+ year member]

Did not know this.

 

[Tek18 10+ year member]

download it to an mp3 format and put the tone on a CD. Unless your HU has USB capabilities as most do today.. 

ahh okay thanks, i think im getting this head unit from someone on the forums, Alpine CDA-9886 , which has a AUX in on the back which i will wire outfront //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[wenn_du_weinst 10+ year member]

download it to an mp3 format and put the tone on a CD. Unless your HU has USB capabilities as most do today.. 

---------- Post added at 12:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:08 PM ----------

 

Did not know this.

they will get louder and lower after a while but they won't break if you don't break them in. Very few subs require break in.

 

[VWBobby 10+ year member]

Most subs don't "require" a break-in, but its a good idea. If you understand how most speakers are constructed, the suspension is in the spiders and surround. If the resin in the spiders is stressed, it can break or tear. It might not be noticeable at first, but the speaker will be a lot more prone to failure long term if hammered on right away (imho) or will at least greatly change the T/S parameters. It can stretch the suspension unevenly just like a spring that is pinched and stretched.

Before the pissing matches begin, here is some research conducted showing the differences in T/S parameters between a new driver and various stages of break-in.

http://www.gr-research.com/burnin.htm

How the Audax AP100Z0 loudspeaker drivers were broken-in and the T/S parameters measured.

Its similar to beating on a freshly rebuilt engine instead of properly breaking in the cam, lifters, etc.... One engine will either fail outright or show signs of wear a lot sooner than the one that is properly broken in.

 

[wenn_du_weinst 10+ year member]

no one said that subs don't break in, I said that FI subs spiders are soft enough to be safe used right out of the gate.

 

[Tek18 10+ year member]

yes im very familiar with an engine break in, i will read these articles thank you very much !

 

[VWBobby 10+ year member]

no one said that subs don't break in, I said that FI subs spiders are soft enough to be safe used right out of the gate.

They can be used, but I wouldn't go full RMS on ANY speaker right out of the gate.....no matter how "soft" the spider is. That isn't the point, the resin in the spider and the triple joint stress is the point.

At the bottom of the first article, Dan Wiggins of Adire Audio wrote:

"The biggest reason there is a break-in period for drivers is the spider. The spider - for those who don't know - is a piece of cloth, permanent pressed, and dipped in epoxy. When you break in a driver, you introduce micro-cracks throughout the epoxy, which will make the spider softer.

ALL mechanical systems will wear and all mechanical springs will get softer; in this case, it's by design. You break/crack a lot of the epoxy bonds (phenolics are used as well) that permeate the spider, and thus it becomes softer.

We often see a 20% drop in Fs over a lengthy break-in, and we quote numbers for drivers broken in. Out of the box all our drivers measure high; beat on them for 40-50 hours, though, and they will be permanently lowered (Fs, that is)."

There is a lot more to that article, along with another response from Credence Speakers "...consistent with THOUSANDS of measurements I have done. Anyone who thinks a woofer's parameters don't change due to break-in / burn-in is either ignoring the data, has lousy data, or is not doing much of a break-in. ".

 

[wenn_du_weinst 10+ year member]

you really do not know how to read do you? Once again, NO ONE EVER SAID T/S DO NOT CHANGE AFTER A SUB IS USED. It will not damage a fi driver to go 100% on the brand new subwoofer. It will not crack, it will not tear, nothing will happen other then it will play lower and louder after it loosens up afterwards.

 

[VWBobby 10+ year member]

I read and understand what you mean. If you want to go full tilt because its a magical FI driver (sounds like Dr. Subwoofer anyone?) then go ahead! Apparently all the engineers who design this equipment have no idea what they're doing. You can take your average sub and think it sounds great after hammering on it. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif