Reid, welcome. Yes, this topic has been pretty much beaten to death over the past few years, but lets go into a little more detail anyway. The latest comment on it by resident Axiom audio expert Alan Lofft is found
in this thread . It should be kept in mind that woofers cycle hundreds of times and tweeters thousands of times in their very first second of operation, which helps explain why any permanent "break-in" happens very quickly, most likely during testing at the factory. Research by Dr. Floyd Toole has also shown that there is no long term break-in process. A measurable "loosening" of the driver suspension occurs almost instantaneously every time a speaker is played, which then reverts to its resting state a few minutes after the speaker has been powered down, and no further permanent change has taken place.
Although we often read that as much as hundreds of hours of "break-in" are recommended for speakers, players, amplifiers and even pieces of connecting wire, there's no factual support for these claims, which are a relatively recent audio phenomenon. It's been said, not entirely tongue-in-cheek, that "Break-in was invented so that we couldn't return anything!".
