How to Run-In / Break-in Speakers the Right way

Music speaks no language and that’s why Music lovers worldwide spend lavishly on their high-end speakers.

All Audiophile, prosumer and even consumer level speakers need some running-in time before they can sound their best. The speakers whether floorstanders or bookshelves, might sound harsh and half breathing out of the box. Tweeters might sound harsh, bass might sound muddy and mids will be recessed.

Monitor Audio RX6 stereo speakers

Why Speakers need Breaking-in/running-in

All speakers have coils that drive the diaphragm and cone of the speakers that vibrate to produce sound.

The voice-coil in speakers is supported by the “spider”, which is made of fabric impregnated resin. As it is moved back and forth, the resin would weaken, allowing freer flexing of the fabric.

Some speakers are constructed with a fabric surround, as well as a fabric spider. Such speakers would have a more significant “break-in” period then other speakers, which have a rubber surround, which does not break in.

Repeated excursions frees-up the spider and coils’ ability to produce richer and fuller vibrations and hence fuller sounds. The result is highs would sound warmer, mids will be more pronounced and low-bass would sound tighter.

How to Run-in / Break-in Speakers the Right way

Every speaker has its own characteristics and would need anywhere from 50-100 hours of playback before they sound natural. They start sounding better from 30hours onwards, but their best might be way above that.

Lets have a quick look at what you need to do in order to achieve efficient Break-in / Run-in:

Step 1. Choose a music with full range sound: Good bass, mids and highs. Techno, trance, electronic music will do just fine. Alternatively, for better results, play a Break-in Audiophile CD. These CDs are nothing but audio that have good amount of bass and full dynamic range of sounds.

Step 2. Place the two speakers as close to each other as possible. If you’ve HomeTheater setup like 5.1, 7.1, 9.1, place them in pairs.

Step 3. From the amplifier or from speaker end, reverse the polarity i.e. put the black wire in red jack, and vice-versa.

Step 4. Once you’ve them in place, play your music and pump up the volume, bass. With this setup, you’ll hardly hear any sounds (other than some highs) and you can easily raise the volume.

Let them run for 3 days continuously for best results.

Note: Raise the volume to slightly higher than normal listening level. Excessive volumes will only harm the speakers and not accelerate break-in.

Warning: During initial life of a speaker, never raise the volume to its peek, it can cause permanent damages.

Enjoy the best of your music

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