My new speakers don't sound as warm and punchy as the store's floor model did. I asked the sales man and he mentioned that they still need to be broken in. IS THERE REALLY A BREAK IN PERIOD FOR NEW SPEAKERS? Should I start adjusting the receiver's EQ??? I only concerned about the Main Channels, since I have them set to "large" and the rest to "small".
My setup -
AV receiver - Denon AVR 3805 Mains - Energy C9 (Floors) Center - Energy C-C1 Surround - Energy C-CR1 Sub - Velodyne SPL 800Series II
Any input would be appreciated! Thanks!
Maxxy54
Unregistered guest
Posted on
I was in the same boat as you but I was advised to let them break-in by playing them continuosly for 48 hours. This did help dramatically. I also made sure the wire I used is good 14 ga.
Most newer speakers using ceramic-mix, kevlar, poly-mix, carbon fiber etc drivers materials are also attached to thicker and stronger composite surround materials. This makes the speaker drivers a little tighter than older paper units. This is a welcome effort on the part of manufacturers to reduce distortion, 'break-up', wiggling and shifting and deterioration of outdated pulp, paper and other older driver material. Some of the modern fancier X-overs have more components requiring some burn-in time, so it's not PROVEN, but it's not at all unreasonable to allow some break in time for a variety of reasons. 30-100 hours is a fair time. Your speakers will never sound just like they did on a showroom floor (which can be good or bad!) because you'll not likely be duplicating the equipment, cables, or room acoustics, switching boxes of a dealer setup (which can be good or bad!) I wouldn't be surprised if those C9's take 50 hours to loosen up!
Will.....it's quite common for speakers to require break in periods. Some can be long: 100 to 1000 hours. Play them loud (but below clipping) for as many hours/day as possible. As far as sounding like the stores demo's, remember your electronics probably are not the same as those used in the store nor is the room the same dimensions. Experiment with placement of the speakers. Makes a big difference. PS. Leave the EQ off. YUK.
sat
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Does this break-in period apply to smaller satellite speakers too (like the Energy Take5.2) with 3.5"drivers?
The woofer specs for the Take 5.2 speakers read as: 3-1/2" long throw woofers with: Injection Molded Homopolymer & Aluminum cones, NBR Rubber Surrounds & 9.5 oz magnet structure
Thanks sat and mauimusicman. I adjusted EQ as follows...
63hz - 1.5 125 hz - 1.0 250hz - 0.5
To me I get a lot better base response, but from what everyone's saying I really shoundn't be touching it. I'll set them back to flat as soon as I get home. Is it bad to mess with it prior to break in? Or just don't mess with it at all unless my room acoustics require it (which I don't think does).
swampcat
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Your speakers sounded better at the store. When you listen to speakers you need to listen with a rec. similiar to yours. At stereo stores they have a tendency to audition your speakers for you on a $3000 amp. or close too it. I've been in stores that use a demo amp they dont even sell .
Yep, got new Athenas a few weeks ago. They needed loosening up. The manual talks about it. It's true. Sound better every day.
guych
Unregistered guest
Posted on
how low does the frequency of a floor standing speaker have to go to be consider large in a set up? and why do my speakers sound better when they are set to large in my receiver? please help!!!!!!!!!!
guych, you are entering the domain of personal preference. If you like the way they sound on your receiver setting at large, keep it that way. Play with the settings, experiment on what sounds good to you. Enjoy the sound. cheers
guych
Unregistered guest
Posted on
thanks Berny, i think part of it it's because i was using a cheap sub(jensen). the bass wasn't as tight as the bass from my speakers ,the voice sounded thin or extremely chesty when i turned it up. i just received my (hsu vtf-2 mk2) it already made a world of difference running my speakers small. then again it could just be my fancy. later..
Check your speaker setup, fronts to large and check your sub setting. It should read SUB L/R+LFE (assuming you have a sub!). That will send bass to both your sub and front mains L & R. This also assuming you have bass management on your receiver. Cheers