"breaking in" new subwoofers

glasjaw · Post by **glasjaw** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 1:12 pm

Alright, i dont know where i heard this but i always believed you had to play new subs at lower volumes for a while to break them in.

I looked around online and saw a couple debates about it but theres no real evidence that it does anything. But i also just bought a new type-r and i dont want to potentially hinder any performance.

Any ideas on this? Cuz if this isnt true, i wanna bump the f*ck out of it.

Oh, and i used a tutorial to tune the amp properly with a volt meter n what not but it said 50hz was a good test tone. After lookin around a lil seems like alot of people tune more around the 34-40hz range...what determines what i should tune it to? the box?

lawhon · Post by **lawhon** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 4:01 pm

those things were tested at the factory, if it's a reliable brand.........bump away my son.

Daymon · Post by **Daymon** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 8:19 pm

Whenever I get new subs I'll take it easy on them for about a month.

I don't know if you've ever noticed, but I find there is abit of a burning smell after the first run of brand new subs. I was always told that it was the metals warming up and expanding, and to take it easy for the first little while with the subs.

I'd still play them pretty loud, just after a month or so I'd crank my sub control back up to my normal playing levels.

Anonymous User · Post by **Anonymous User** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 9:18 pm

There is no break in period for subwoofers. just play them like you normally would, dont beat on them.

also Daymon, that smell that you get is either A] the glue burning off the voice coil [not a bad thing] or B] your abusing your subwoofer & clipping the signal aka turning the gain up to high or turning up the radio too high.

lawhon · Post by **lawhon** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 11:20 pm

prob not the sub with the smell, but the amp heating up.

Hudson_Neon · Post by **Hudson_Neon** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 11:27 pm

^ and then pop it goes.

glasjaw: i say bump all you want. i've never heard of a "break in period"

OverDrive418 · Post by **OverDrive418** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 8:18 pm

I guess my breaking-in period is me popping a Bass Mekanik CD and bumping it until I get everything on the amp dialed in and tuned right. Never heard of an official "you must break it in" rule...but I'm not an audio expert.
I've never had any issues either, so I'll go with: if it's installed properly and the gains and such are set right then bump away!

zerocoolok · Post by **zerocoolok** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 7:55 am

Back in the day, it was very common to break in a subwoofer, as the factory did not do it at the time. Nowadays though they've been broken in at the factory.

Hudson_Neon · Post by **Hudson_Neon** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 8:28 am

yeah, but you're talkin paper cones and all when you had to do that. (sorry if that dates anybody. my first set was paper coned)

-Devil- · Post by **-Devil-** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 8:50 pm

it wasnt the paper cones so much as the voice coil construction ...

but the 'break in' period ... was more to let the speakers settle into their correct param's before you applied heavy power to them .. as those could fluxuate in older ones .. (still does on the new ones)

SteelBlue · Post by **SteelBlue** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 12:15 pm

I'd be gentle on it for a week - push it hard enough that the sub moves a little but doesn't hit its full potential. My husband blew a brand new 15" SoloBaric because he pushed it hard when it was new. He forgot it was fresh out of the box and slapped in a bass cd and turned the volume up...the voice coil siezed and now the damn thing is a paperweight mounted to the garage wall.

dodge_girl · Post by **dodge_girl** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 12:58 pm

I have an alpine type R 12" and i never took it easy on that thing, it can take it lol, awesome sub! so bump away!

Anonymous User · Post by **Anonymous User** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 6:41 pm

dodge_girl wrote:I have an alpine type R 12" and i never took it easy on that thing, it can take it lol, awesome sub! so bump away!

one of the best bang for the bucks 12"S out.....it can handle 2x or even sometimes 3x its RMS power if in the right application.