Does the sound of Axiom speakers change significantly with "break-in" or "burn-in?" If so, how long does it take them to break in?

All speakers take some break in time. To break speakers in quickly, play heavy bass music for a few hours. The volume does not need to be loud for successful break in to occur.

??? Ditto ???

Someone wanna challenge the moderator.

bout what. i like to use dynamic music in all areas for to break in stuff. speakers are mechanical and they do break in just like you would break in a car. the motor, surround,spider all break in and loosen up and stuff. cables do not break in, they are not mechanical, some say it makes a diff some dont. but what happens with cables is the dielectric comes up to charge i believe. i do not think there is any moving of atoms or whatever.

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the motor, surround,spider all break in and loosen up and stuff. cables do not break in

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Exactly how long would a device with one degree of movement and only a couple of individual parts that is moving, in some cases, tens of thousands of times a second, need to break in?

ah dunno. i always think 20 hours is quite sufficuent. thats by no means though any educated awnser. just my belief.

Whee! Flame war!

My question (honest question, here) is if mechinical break in on speakers is real, why don't they keep breaking in? Why don't the woofers eventually just start flopping all over the place?

They probably will given enough time...

I don't think so...there's some people that have had speakers for a loooonnnnggg time....they don't just fall to pieces one day. People don't just say "Oh well, they're in pieces now...better get new ones."

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To break speakers in quickly, play heavy bass music for a few hours.

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This is entirely in line with what Ian has stated. "Axiom" may have been conservative in saying "a few hours." He/she didn't say 10's and 100's of hours, and that's the point.

I was just reading the Music Direct paper catalog -- my brother recently ordered a CD from them. If you order cables from them, you can ask them to burn them in for you on their cable burn-in machine. It's a free service!!

HAL, who is poster "axiom"?

HAL-It was a voice from above.

Hey, Are any of you people in the Axiom Building right now?

Don't we wish!

In it, heck, we can't even find it!

Shhhhh!!!!!

I'm peeking out of the broom closet right now...

It is not uncommon for something to require a break in period, but not actually break down.. Take the guitar.. The top surface, with the sound hole, does break in over time.. (And sounds better as it does) It does not break down though..
The fine layer of wood actually flexes with the vibrations caused by the sound waves.. This flexing works on the grain in the wood, and in time, the sound will mellow.. A desirable effect.. This can be applied to most all wooden string instruments..
A guitar sitting in a case, even it was 100 years old, has not aged.. Its just an OLD guitar..
This process will continue the entire life of the instrument, as long as it is played.. It does not damage it..
I don't have the figures on the number of vibrations per second on this, but you all get the idea..

Mikey,

That's the best analogy in support of break-in I have heard to date.

All that matters is what you hear, and if you're happy with what you hear. I believe that all speakers, and most audio components, exhibit some sort of physical / eletrical / mechanical break-in that is audible. Typically 30-50 hours. Sometimes it can be much longer.

These theoretical arguments have no value to anyone's musical enjoyment. My only advice is this: if you get a new component, particularly new speakers, and notice a shrillness or lack of bass, give it some time before deciding to send it back. You may or may not notice an easing of some of the annoying sonic features. Aside from that, just enjoy the music.

-Cooper

Sometime back I had posted a url that contained spl readings from four Vifa speakers that were brand new out of the box and again after about 40 hours of break-in, and all showed different spl readings after 40 hours of break-in, and all were rather consistant in their change.

Hey Axiom, you told me over the phone when I bought my M60s that there was no such thing as speaker break-in. What gives? Are you caving to pressure from the rest of the industry to stop debunking audiophile myths? Are they afraid of losing market share to the garden lighting wire companies? I smell conspiracy (but then again I am rather jaded and bitchy).

So... It is clear that some people here are declaring that they know about the Axiom speakers better than their designer Ian Colquhoun, and/or that they have much better discerning ears than him.

Personally, I wouldn't buy a speaker designed by somebody who I think is deaf, or knows less about speakers than myself.

Oh, and in case you misunderstand me... I am NOT claiming that no speakers ever need 10's and 100's of hours of break-in. I am specifically talking about the Axioms.

Here is Ian's own polite answer on the subject.