Hmmmm... 5 votes for "ears" so far, my vote the only one for "both." I wonder if a little of the break in changes are caused by materials settling in. I'm thinking of new boots that torture you for a week then are suddenly supple. Gaskets and seals in new cars that settle and seal better after a thousand or so miles. Possible? Maybe not so much the aluminum cones themselves, but the, what, surrounds? Gaskets? Might they not have a little more play after a couple of hundred hours? Is there an equilibrium they reach after a while? I think there may be a little of that. Maybe it could account for say 20% of the "break-in factor?"
