breaking in speakers?

[Beachbum]

From what I've read speakers actually do go through a break in period. However the good news is that it only takes about 3 1/2 seconds.

 

[telemnemonics]

You mean the red Fang stays harsh even after break in? Or it's only harsh when new.

I'm curious since they have some serious dB age in the upper frequency range. Past the strings and into harmonics. Perhaps that's it?

They sound great broken in but some might find them harsh if for example you're used to C Rex dull tone.
But because they are a very bright speaker they are to me hard to tolerate during break in.
"For me" includes always playing an Esquire during break in.
Never tried that with a nice neck HB since i had none of those.

 

[Antoon]

If breaking in a speaker has such a big effect (which I think it does) it is actually a bit strange that the speaker is not automatically broken-in by the factory. It does not seem to be a complex of expensive thing to do. Many players decide whether or not to like the speaker based on the first impressions right out of the box. So as a manufacturer I would make to sure that it performs as good as it can straight from the start.

 

[Tim S]

I think I remember one speaker company offering speaker break in for an additional fee.

Sounds like a racket to me. Charge extra to hold the speaker for a few days before shipping. Players are now demanding it (because of the internet) so it seems totally legit, and in their defense the speaker manufacturers who do so “might” be unaware that it’s a myth.

We might have a strawman here. Which speaker company or reseller is charging a premium to break-in a speaker?

I’ve never seen that. I’ve seen it offered for free to customers who want it (by Avatar and Weber), but I never heard of anyone charging extra for that.

 

[Neptical]

Crank it with an octave pedal lol

 

[joe_cpwe]

Last time I broke in a speaker I recorded a simple line with my bass into a looper, attached the speaker to one of my solid state amps and let it run at a low-moderate volume for a number of hours over a few days. just loud enough to get the speaker moving a little.

results? dunno...

I recently bought a used but new looking Greenback. Maybe I'll do a before and after recording doing a break in with it.

 

[dukewellington]

I’ve always thought I should break in new guitar amp speakers by the way I plan to use them. I want the drivers to be accustomed to the strain of the amplifier opened fairly loud with a telecaster or a Les Paul, which is generally what I play. The speakers will be seeing those a lot. No sense in torturing them with pulsing pink noise or endless MP3 loops, etc.

 

[Henry Mars]

The simplest way to break a speaker in is to just crank the amp just play through it.
It isn't science.

 

[archetype]

Be thoughtful about your break-in rig and how you drive it. I found that a wimpy PT, like in a Princeton, gets damned hot if you feed it bass-heavy source for a while.

 

[jsnwhite619]

My go-to method for speakers is hook it to a small solid state stereo I have in my shop. If I'm not in a hurry, I'll mount it in a cabinet and just use it as a stereo speaker for a few weeks. If I want to get on with it, I'll leave it out of a cabinet, stick it in a cooler or cardboard box with a moving blanket - nothing touching the coil or cone - and crank the bass on some Grand Funk Railroad/Gov't Mule type stuff. 20-25 hours of "abuse" seems to usually be the turning point.

That Celestion is a 80W & 98dB speaker - if you can stand to be in the room with it uncovered/un-dampened, it probably is going to take a long time. But, it's the bass you want to hit it with to really settle it in.