Speaker break in?

B

BloodRose

Professional Scapegoat
I recall reading recently that speakers should be broken in.. Is this vital? If so, whats the process?
Ive never done it. I always plug and play. My first 4x12 was like that.. Just went to town.. The last cab I bought, I bought used, so I didnt have to worry about break in..
however, Im getting a "new" cab.. Its actually pre owned but was played 2 times for 30 min.. So, I want to make sure to do things properly..

I tried to search and got tons of long threads about amps, but cant read thru them all at work.. thanks
 
Re: Speaker break in?

BloodRose said:
I recall reading recently that speakers should be broken in.. Is this vital?
Click to expand...

Yes and no. It's not like you have a choice in the matter.

If so, whats the process?
Click to expand...

Play your guitar... it happens naturally on it's own. Start off easy with lots of clean chording, then move up in volume. The important thing is to realize that it will take around 5 to 7 hours of playing before they start to soften, and then upto around 40-80 hours of playing before they're fully 'broke in'.
 
Re: Speaker break in?

If you live in a place where you can generate a bit of noise for an extended period, a trick I learned was to hook your cab up to your stereo system, put in your favorite cd on repeat, turn up as loud as you can get away with, lay the cab face down on the floor and go off to work.

Rinse and repeat a few times + your playing time and those speakers will be broken in in no time.
 
Re: Speaker break in?

Someone on here recently posted that he used a looper....

Interesting that even the Eminence Q&A is not definitive....

FWIW, I folow Some_Dude's method
 
Re: Speaker break in?

There is no real break procedure you need to follow. Just go ahead and play them and they will break in over time. You may or may not even notice the change slowly over time.
 
Re: Speaker break in?

From the Celestion web site Important Note! Before breaking it in it's advisable to "warm up" the speaker gently for a few minutes with low-level playing or background hum.

Break in a speaker with a fat, clean tone: turn up the power amp volume to full, and control the level with the preamp gain. Use a level that will be quite loud, but not painful in a normal size room.

Have the bass and mid up full, and the treble at least half. On your guitar, use the middle pick up position (if your guitar has more than one pick up) and play for 10-15 minutes using lots of open chords, and chunky percussive playing. This will get the cone moving, and should excite all the cone modes and get everything to settle in nicely. The speaker will continue to mature over the years, but this will get it 95% of the way to tonal perfection in the shortest time.
 
Re: Speaker break in?

I got my last amp a day or two before a housewarming party at my last place. I put my Ipod on shuffle, plugged it in, cranked the volume to five, closed and locked my bedroom door and advised people not to stand close to it for prolonged periods of time. :friday:
 
Re: Speaker break in?

Kam said:
I got my last amp a day or two before a housewarming party at my last place. I put my Ipod on shuffle, plugged it in, cranked the volume to five, closed and locked my bedroom door and advised people not to stand close to it for prolonged periods of time. :friday:
Click to expand...

^^^ That's exactly what I did too. That's pretty much what I'd recommend.

Oh, and of course playing thru it is also another form of breaking it in. Just start off low and slowly turn the volume up throughout your session.
 
Re: Speaker break in?

ken361 said:
From the Celestion web site Important Note! Before breaking it in it's advisable to "warm up" the speaker gently for a few minutes with low-level playing or background hum.

Break in a speaker with a fat, clean tone: turn up the power amp volume to full, and control the level with the preamp gain. Use a level that will be quite loud, but not painful in a normal size room.

Have the bass and mid up full, and the treble at least half. On your guitar, use the middle pick up position (if your guitar has more than one pick up) and play for 10-15 minutes using lots of open chords, and chunky percussive playing. This will get the cone moving, and should excite all the cone modes and get everything to settle in nicely. The speaker will continue to mature over the years, but this will get it 95% of the way to tonal perfection in the shortest time.
Click to expand...

Thats what I did. I recorded a 3-5 minute loop, and then repeated it for 30 minutes while I went to pick up my children.
 
Re: Speaker break in?

guess Ill have to do it by playing tho. the family has busted my component system so I have nothing to run thru it...

but thanks! Ill do chording and all..
 
Re: Speaker break in?

FYI, those speakers that come in the Splawn really do need a break in period. I just played though, too much fun not too. ;)

BTW - where's the NAD thread? :14:
 
Re: Speaker break in?

Buy your speakers post break in from Avatar.
Otherwise the break in for something like a Celestion G12h-30 ( not sure if Avatar sells these) is just completely nuts nuts- something like 300 hours opr more according to Jim there at So. Bay Speakerworks in So-cal. Just to illustrate, before the break in the G12h-30 is pretty much unlisteneable.. stiff, Falt, spikey and wihtout charecter..but after its a decent speaker, a bit brigght but balances well with the old Vintage g12h-30's.. Better than the Heritage from all accounts.
 
Re: Speaker break in?

Breakin Procedure:Plug your guitar into your head,plug your head into your new cab,adjust the head for best tone.And play it for the next few months it will slowly get better sounding.....This works for me.
Some guys run a stereo into there cab and crank it and let it play for days on end.Warren Haynes does this.
Some guys will use a variac on low voltage so the 60 cycle hum vibrates the cones to loosten um up.
 
Re: Speaker break in?

PFDarkside said:
FYI, those speakers that come in the Splawn really do need a break in period. I just played though, too much fun not too. ;)

BTW - where's the NAD thread? :14:
Click to expand...

I have recd the foot pedal, toobs and manual. head coming in a few days and cab in about 2 wks
 
Re: Speaker break in?

PFDarkside said:
FYI, those speakers that come in the Splawn really do need a break in period. I just played though, too much fun not too. ;)

BTW - where's the NAD thread? :14:
Click to expand...

+1

I mean, a new Splawn cab sounds pretty good fresh out of the truck, but the Emi's are still a little stiff for a while and don't really give up the goods until after 50 hours of solid playing or so.
 
Re: Speaker break in?

just play it. they sound fine brand new, and loosen up a bit after a few hours.
There's nothing like a few hours of playing to make any one or anything spound better!
 
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