Is "Break in" Really necissary?

[TypeRBass 10+ year member]

i just got my 2nd DD 9512 in yesterday, well i only have 1 in my possession...and screw this break in. crank it up as soon as you get it. the suspension has started to loosen up a bit...but **** those DD's are stiff as hell out of the box.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

i just got my 2nd DD 9512 in yesterday, well i only have 1 in my possession...and screw this break in. crank it up as soon as you get it. the suspension has started to loosen up a bit...but **** those DD's are stiff as hell out of the box.

That was an incredibly helpful post.

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

No.

NG

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

If you do crank your sub right out of the box (without breaking it in), expect the distortion threshhold to be lower. Most subs that I noticed much of a break-in with started distorting at higher and higher volumes as the suspension loosened up.

IMO this is pretty much a common sense thing. Your sub(s) will let you know if its unhappy, all you have to do is listen for it.

 

[Justintoxicated 10+ year member]

I Short, I don't think your W3's sound like *** from not being broken in.

I do think you Don't have enough power to run 3 of them.

I would send them at least 300 watts each.

JL amps are not as overrated as you think. From my understanding they simply don't suffer from as much loss as other amps at high volumes, but the actual power listed is correct.

Aside from that your Feeding a JL woofer, so the JL amp and JL woofer specs watt for watt, should match up. Now you said not to say it is the amp, but why don't you want to believe this?

your only feeding those subs like about ~175 watts each when they want 2 times the power. your Amp is likely clipping at high volumes and sending a 1/2 assed signal to the woofers. Is each sub in it's own enclosure or do they share the sae airspace? Have you tried running only 2 of the W3's and see if they hit harder?

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

JL amps are not as overrated as you think. From my understanding they simply don't suffer from as much loss as other amps at high volumes

That makes no sense.

your Amp is likely clipping at high volumes and sending a 1/2 assed signal to the woofers.

May I ask how you concluded this? I see nothing in what he said that makes me think gain settings are the problem. If he had the gain setting too high and was clipping the amp as you suggest, output would go up not down.

 

[Justintoxicated 10+ year member]

That makes no sense.
May I ask how you concluded this? I see nothing in what he said that makes me think gain settings are the problem. If he had the gain setting too high and was clipping the amp as you suggest, output would go up not down.

he said at loud volumes the subs sounded like they Fart, this could be from a clipped signal since the amp is so tiny it canot push all 3 woofers correctly.

He only has 60% of the recomended power. At lower volumes they probaby sound fine, but not very loud. When I have my JL's hooked up to an underpowered amp For example my 4 ohm home sterio reciever that is only 100 watts per channel, they are not nearly as oud and sound alot more flat. I have W0's though not W3's

I read some article on the JL amplifiers, the Impedence on a subwoofer changes as the output is increased. So a 2 ohm woofer can change to say 2.8 ohms, thus an amp that puts out 300 watts at 2 ohm cannot necessarily put out 300 watts @ 2.8 ohms (this is just an example). The JL Amplifiers are designed to put out the same power at different impedences because they are supposed to dynamicaly match the impedence of the woofer. They are good amps, but he does not have enough power for 3 10W3V2's. If they were SVC W0's then I would say he is good to go. I have a feeling this is the problem.

Also how do you have all 3 wired and what impedence are the woofers? Are they wired in series or parallel to the amp?

Only other thign I can think of is one sub may be hooked up backwards and canceling the others out.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

he said at loud volumes the subs sounded like they Fart, this could be from a clipped signal since the amp is so tiny it canot push all 3 woofers correctly.
He only has 60% of the recomended power. At lower volumes they probaby sound fine, but not very loud. When I have my JL's hooked up to an underpowered amp For example my 4 ohm home sterio reciever that is only 100 watts per channel, they are not nearly as oud and sound alot more flat. I have W0's though not W3's

I read some article on the JL amplifiers, the Impedence on a subwoofer changes as the output is increased. So a 2 ohm woofer can change to say 2.8 ohms, thus an amp that puts out 300 watts at 2 ohm cannot necessarily put out 300 watts @ 2.8 ohms (this is just an example). The JL Amplifiers are designed to put out the same power at different impedences because they are supposed to dynamicaly match the impedence of the woofer. They are good amps, but he does not have enough power for 3 10W3V2's. If they were SVC W0's then I would say he is good to go. I have a feeling this is the problem.

Also how do you have all 3 wired and what impedence are the woofers? Are they wired in series or parallel to the amp?

Only other thign I can think of is one sub may be hooked up backwards and canceling the others out.

2 Problems:

1) The fact that he has an amp that does not reach the full RMS rating of the 3 subs combined does not automatically mean he has set his gains improperly.

2) Impedance on a speaker changes with frequency, not volume. Thus your idea does not make sense (no offense).

Hope I helped. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

2) Impedance on a speaker changes with frequency, not volume. Thus your idea does not make sense (no offense).

Well, to his benefit it will change with heat. And common sense tells us that higher volume = more heat = hotter coil = rising impedance.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Well, to his benefit it will change with heat. And common sense tells us that higher volume = more heat = hotter coil = rising impedance.

But this effect will have the same results no matter which amplifier is used. A JL amp will not handle that aituation any better than another well made amp. Thus his reasoning still makes no sense.

 

[SPL140.2 5,000+ posts]

exactly true. More often then not break ins are not required. But like i am saying the MOFO has one of the most stiff suspensions i have ever seen. Then after a week it is as soft as a down pilliow.

Just wondering if the mofos have the dual spiders as the SPLW's, my subs are still stiff as hell.

 

[SPL140.2 5,000+ posts]

2) Impedance on a speaker changes with frequency, not volume. Thus your idea does not make sense (no offense).
Hope I helped. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

doesnt it change with enclosure types also

 

[SPL140.2 5,000+ posts]

If you do crank your sub right out of the box (without breaking it in), expect the distortion threshhold to be lower. Most subs that I noticed much of a break-in with started distorting at higher and higher volumes as the suspension loosened up.
IMO this is pretty much a common sense thing. Your sub(s) will let you know if its unhappy, all you have to do is listen for it.

^^^^he is the man!! thats a good statement!!!!

 

[monte_carlo97 10+ year member]

Just wondering if the mofos have the dual spiders as the SPLW's, my subs are still stiff as hell.

no, but there surond is very thick which is why they are veru stiff.

 

[brabla10 10+ year member]

If your subs aren't hitting low bass that well, it's probably because the box is too small/ tuned too high. My 12" Alpine Type X wasn't hitting low frequencies at all till i had the shop switch out my box for a bigger one, and its wayyyy better now. Or you could be underpowering them... I don't know what the specs are for your subs but thats one possibility.