Breaking in new speakers
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twoheadedboy
New member
Re: Breaking in new speakers
the guy who broke my speakers in hooked them up to a low voltage heater and ran electrical current through them while they sat cone facing upward on the floor of his basement 10-15 minutes like that combined with some gentle breaking in of the cone with his fingers makes the speakers play like they have been driven hard for a few years.
the guy who broke my speakers in hooked them up to a low voltage heater and ran electrical current through them while they sat cone facing upward on the floor of his basement 10-15 minutes like that combined with some gentle breaking in of the cone with his fingers makes the speakers play like they have been driven hard for a few years.
drew_half_empty
Looking for Real Life
Re: Breaking in new speakers
hit the woodshed
the best way is to play them with YOUR tone, so they break in accordingly
i ruined an eminence legend 125 by running a 5150 through it, sounds great with the 5150 but bad with my fenders, i wasn't to happy about that
hit the woodshed
the best way is to play them with YOUR tone, so they break in accordingly
i ruined an eminence legend 125 by running a 5150 through it, sounds great with the 5150 but bad with my fenders, i wasn't to happy about that
y2stevo
New member
Re: Breaking in new speakers
I just broke in mine (to an extent) just sunday, I just got a new Marshall 1936 2x12 cab and out of the box sounded like poo poo..
I just brought my amp and head out to a shed and hooked it up to my discman, played music through it full blast for about 7 or 8 hours..
It made a World of difference to the sound from it, Outta the box it sounded Harsh and Shrill no matter how you set the eq, Now It sounds great :headbang:
I just broke in mine (to an extent) just sunday, I just got a new Marshall 1936 2x12 cab and out of the box sounded like poo poo..
I just brought my amp and head out to a shed and hooked it up to my discman, played music through it full blast for about 7 or 8 hours..
It made a World of difference to the sound from it, Outta the box it sounded Harsh and Shrill no matter how you set the eq, Now It sounds great :headbang:
Thames
Great White Malice
Re: Breaking in new speakers
No matter which method you use, the speaker needs to vibrate hard, but not too hard at first.
The best and most used method to break-in is to plug the cab to a stereo and run it for a few days.
You cant "ruin" a speaker by using a different method....
No matter which method you use, the speaker needs to vibrate hard, but not too hard at first.
The best and most used method to break-in is to plug the cab to a stereo and run it for a few days.
You cant "ruin" a speaker by using a different method....
L
Lewguitar
Guest
Re: Breaking in new speakers
You don't want to try this!
But my brother Bruce takes the speaker, sets the cone facing upright on his bench and runs a low frequency through the speaker generated by a frequency generator through the speaker. While this is going on, he uses a soldering brush dipped in ACETONE around the surround of the speaker. He keeps dipping the brush in acetone and painting the surround while the speaker is moving.
What happens is the acetone removes some of the sticky dope Celestion applies and also causes it to soak into the paper surround.
After about 5 minutes the speaker starts to produce a much deeper, more broken in tone.
This method can open up the tone and help remove the brittle edge some of the reissue Jensen speakers like the C10Q have.
Matchless did something similar to all the Celestions they used during the Mark Sampson era of Matchless. They might still do it...I don't know.
Ted Weber has kind of laid claim to this method but Bruce taught him how to do it....along with many other techniques and ideas Bruce has shared with him.
Lew
You don't want to try this!
But my brother Bruce takes the speaker, sets the cone facing upright on his bench and runs a low frequency through the speaker generated by a frequency generator through the speaker. While this is going on, he uses a soldering brush dipped in ACETONE around the surround of the speaker. He keeps dipping the brush in acetone and painting the surround while the speaker is moving.
What happens is the acetone removes some of the sticky dope Celestion applies and also causes it to soak into the paper surround.
After about 5 minutes the speaker starts to produce a much deeper, more broken in tone.
This method can open up the tone and help remove the brittle edge some of the reissue Jensen speakers like the C10Q have.
Matchless did something similar to all the Celestions they used during the Mark Sampson era of Matchless. They might still do it...I don't know.
Ted Weber has kind of laid claim to this method but Bruce taught him how to do it....along with many other techniques and ideas Bruce has shared with him.
Lew
Last edited:
Re: Breaking in new speakers
I ran a low music signal through my recently reconed JBL D130F. Not overly loud, just normal medium to soft music levels. I just ran a constant signal onto the speaker for about 5 evenings in a row. I had to use the amp, so I would do this at night. Then I'd shut it off the next morning and give the amp a rest. Repeat as necessary.
Worked like a charm. Nothing heavy duty that didn't have a direct correlation to my playing the guitar on the other end. Just a constant music signal.
I ran a low music signal through my recently reconed JBL D130F. Not overly loud, just normal medium to soft music levels. I just ran a constant signal onto the speaker for about 5 evenings in a row. I had to use the amp, so I would do this at night. Then I'd shut it off the next morning and give the amp a rest. Repeat as necessary.
Worked like a charm. Nothing heavy duty that didn't have a direct correlation to my playing the guitar on the other end. Just a constant music signal.
kevlar3000
Bullet Proof Toneologist
Re: Breaking in new speakers
Fabric softener is very good at opening up stiff cones. Has worked very nicely with all my new speakers. You still have a break in time but the speakers will have a more aged natural tone when you are done. How it mellows high end really impressed me. Spray or wipe it on fairly liberally and then let it dry and go from there.
Fabric softener is very good at opening up stiff cones. Has worked very nicely with all my new speakers. You still have a break in time but the speakers will have a more aged natural tone when you are done. How it mellows high end really impressed me. Spray or wipe it on fairly liberally and then let it dry and go from there.
TwilightOdyssey
Darkness on the edge of Tone
Re: Breaking in new speakers
Go on tour.
Go on tour.
kmcguitars
GuitarArtologist
Re: Breaking in new speakers
I recorded a 5 minute clip of me playing ,ran it in a loop in Musicmatch or
windows media player. Than the headphones out of my computer into a
Transistor amp (No reason to burn up your tubes) I just let it play for a
few hours a day at a modarate volume.
I recorded a 5 minute clip of me playing ,ran it in a loop in Musicmatch or
windows media player. Than the headphones out of my computer into a
Transistor amp (No reason to burn up your tubes) I just let it play for a
few hours a day at a modarate volume.
Thames
Great White Malice
Re: Breaking in new speakers
Fabric softener is what Ted at WeberVST uses as "pre-break in" treatment (IIRC).
Here's the link to the method Lew is talking about :
http://www.unclespot.com/C10Q.html
Fabric softener is what Ted at WeberVST uses as "pre-break in" treatment (IIRC).
Here's the link to the method Lew is talking about :
http://www.unclespot.com/C10Q.html
