Wingman0121
10+ year member
CarAudio.com Veteran
Do you NEED to break in your subs? No. Should you? Yes.
Read this...
What manufacture and (some)people mean by "breaking in" a sub is when a sub is new every moving parts are stiff and will take some moving back and forth to loosen up so the driver parameters stabilize and can be measured accurately for people who are critical about SQ and enclosure design - they measure their own driver parameter(Qes, Qts, dB@1 watt, etc.) instead of going with factory specs so they can make a perfect box for that particular speaker. I run my subs free-air from 20~60Hz for a few hours in my house with a home audio amplifier before I install them in my car, I do that to one - observe any abnormal mechanical noises/rattles to make sure I don't have a defective speaker, two - you can observe the Xmax to know how far the cone can travel without complaining and three - check the surrounds and make sure they're linear when the cone's moving. The bass will go deeper and takes less power to reach xmax when a sub is broken in.
The manual for Kicker's L7 subs specifically said you should break in the sub when it's brand new so it'll "sound better afterward." Many home theater audiophiles says the same thing when they test a new set of speakers or powered subwoofer - they usually say the highs are too bright or the bass is too tight and spends a few days if not weeks playing the speakers daily before they write a review about it. Critical audiophiles even go the distance and say break-in procedures are mandatory for amplifiers(especially tube amps - they NEED break-in AND warm-up time), passive crossovers and high-power multichannel receivers.
If you're gonna spend hundreds or thousands on subs then why not do a proper break-in especially if it doesn't cost a penny? All the car manufactures say you should take it easy and let the new engine "break-in" before taking it to high rpm, do everyone do it? No, and those cars are the ones that will have engine problems later on.
Read this...
What manufacture and (some)people mean by "breaking in" a sub is when a sub is new every moving parts are stiff and will take some moving back and forth to loosen up so the driver parameters stabilize and can be measured accurately for people who are critical about SQ and enclosure design - they measure their own driver parameter(Qes, Qts, dB@1 watt, etc.) instead of going with factory specs so they can make a perfect box for that particular speaker. I run my subs free-air from 20~60Hz for a few hours in my house with a home audio amplifier before I install them in my car, I do that to one - observe any abnormal mechanical noises/rattles to make sure I don't have a defective speaker, two - you can observe the Xmax to know how far the cone can travel without complaining and three - check the surrounds and make sure they're linear when the cone's moving. The bass will go deeper and takes less power to reach xmax when a sub is broken in.
The manual for Kicker's L7 subs specifically said you should break in the sub when it's brand new so it'll "sound better afterward." Many home theater audiophiles says the same thing when they test a new set of speakers or powered subwoofer - they usually say the highs are too bright or the bass is too tight and spends a few days if not weeks playing the speakers daily before they write a review about it. Critical audiophiles even go the distance and say break-in procedures are mandatory for amplifiers(especially tube amps - they NEED break-in AND warm-up time), passive crossovers and high-power multichannel receivers.
If you're gonna spend hundreds or thousands on subs then why not do a proper break-in especially if it doesn't cost a penny? All the car manufactures say you should take it easy and let the new engine "break-in" before taking it to high rpm, do everyone do it? No, and those cars are the ones that will have engine problems later on.
