Is there a right and wrong way to break in subs? I know you're supposed to play it quiet for a few weeks, but should you go through heat cycles? Like when a dirtbike gets rebuilt you have to ride it for like 10 minutes then let it cool and repeat til there's like an hour or so total then its good to go. Are subs the same way?
The whole point of the "break in" is to get the FS down and lossen the subwoofer.
Many times when you buy a subwoofer the FS will to to high for the box you put it in. Once the subwoofer is played for a while then the fs lowers and it will play correctly in a lower tuned box.
If you do not play the subwoofer fairly loud it will not move enough making the break in period much longer. I would put 85% of the RMS power to it. If it starts to smell let it cool down and play music with a high note. Once the speaker is broken in you should be able to play the lower not songs.
Almost all companies provide broken in or semi broken in T/S. If they provided you with the out of box T/S many consumers would be scared off by the very high FS.