Breaking in a subwoofer

[mumra]

What is the recommended proceedure for breaking in a subwoofer?

[nervewrecker]

hire a burglar....or you could try the search button


















































dont use the search button to search for burglar ok sonny

[viking1705]

[t&t tech]

A sub breaking in is a natural phenomenon that occurs whether you like it or not, as the speaker is used. The soft parts become more compliant and move more freely and it sounds better. Although there are specific ways to "break" in subs, it is not necessary for proper functionality of a speaker!

[- Rovin's car audio -]

A sub breaking in is a natural phenomenon that occurs whether you like it or not, as the speaker is used. The soft parts become more compliant and move more freely and it sounds better. Although there are specific ways to "break" in subs, it is not necessary for proper functionality of a speaker!

cud u explain that to us in more detail ...

[t&t tech]

When i say not necessary, i mean it isn't necessary to use the specific methods available to "break" in the sub, as this happens naturally with use of the speaker, so whether you actually use a specific method to "break" in the sub or you let it play under normal conditions it breaks in anyway. Although it is recommended to play a sub at not more than half of the total volume of your stereo within the first couple of days, so that you don't cause unnecessary harm to the speaker!

[sMASH]

^^ what i usually did.

[t&t tech]

LOL!

[carfreak1024]

yeah but to avoid having to play your music softly for about a 2 weeks, maybe even more you can just run a 20hz test tone on your house amp or some to your subwoofer at peak excursion without clipping for at least 2-3 hours free air or while you wiring up the rest of your music or something.

[mumra]

i used the sine waves @the free air resonance of the sub through a tone generator,
dat sheit real cool, very fast and efficient way to break in a speaker.

found the info on this link

http://forums.trinituner.com/forums/arc ... 239_20.htm

[carfreak1024]

^^^^yeah that is kinda like what i was saying. you could get them sine waves from realmofexcursion.com

[mumra]

i downloaded a tone generator from 12 volts hooked up my laptop via the aux input on my deck n ran it straight off my laptop ...... worked great

[t&t tech]

Glad to hear you got through!

[carfreak1024]

yeah boi i have something similar to that, i get it in the program winisd i think every one that builds boxes on this forum have or have heard of this program.

[nervewrecker]

i downloaded a tone generator from 12 volts hooked up my laptop via the aux input on my deck n ran it straight off my laptop ...... worked great

how long you did this for?

[mumra]

i followed the method given in the link

http://www.the12volt.com/installbay/for ... PN~1~TPN~2

Here's a procedure I learned that is fairly simple to use to break in a woofer. If you are installing your own woofers, be it for car or home use, and have found this thread because you're the type who wants to go about the installation systematically, covering all bases, then this procedure is for you:

You need a test tone CD (here is a download) with a 10 minute track of the tone that corresponds with the Fs of the woofer. You need to be able to hang the woofer up in mid air, through one of the mounting holes in the frame, letting it hang freely. There should be no walls close to the woofer, and the woofer certainly shouldn't be laying on the table on its magnet (as you often see in videos). The nearby table or wall acts to compress the air behind the cone so avoid those types of disturbances.

The idea is to play the sine wave tone through the woofer at resonant frequency in free air. A very slight amount of power will enable the woofer to move at full excursion. You have to first find out what the Xmax is so that you can look at the excursion and gauge (by eye) the approximate excursion you're putting the woofer through. A subwoofer with a one-way excursion of 12 mm would look like its moving about an inch as the voice coil moves back and forth. You'll note that you are allowing only a few watts of power to reach full Xmax, so be careful with the volume control.

If you're working with a car subwoofer, you can prop the trunk lid and hang it from that. If you're working with a home sub, you can hang it from the ceiling of the room near the amplifier. Play the tone at Fs, watch the cone movement while adjusting volume, and let it flap and whirrr for the 10 minute period. It will sound more like a fan than a subwoofer. Allow 10 minutes cooling time, then run it again a few sets. Your woofer is now broken in.

There is only a small percentage of DIYers who will go through this procedure. They are the ones who make sure they have a test tone CD for setting gains, who make sure they damped all the sheet metal while the car is torn apart, who made sure they grinded all the paint off the metal before securing the ground wire. This is just another of the steps to ensuring that when you are ready to debut the system, it will sound the way you had hoped it would.

[3stagevtec]

because of the very little power involved to get the speaker going at Fs in free air, i doubt a cooling period is really necessary.

Personally, i'd prefer to run it at around 1/2 - 2/3 of it's full mechanical excursion capability. That way i'm sure i'm 'breaking in' the components and not placing any 'wear' on them. Operating for long periods at maximum excursion can wear down some spiders imo..

Also, i would run the subwoofer in that state overnight, which should represent a week or two of typical playing time..

[mumra]

3stagevtec
because of the very little power involved to get the speaker going at Fs in free air, i doubt a cooling period is really necessary.

true the sub didnt even get warm

[kurpal_v2]

^^X2 on overnight.


Anything less than half hour you still risk smoking the sub.

[- Rovin's car audio -]

never tried d over night thing , what i do is like 1.5-2 hrs then let it rest a hr or 2 then back at it , i not in a real hurry to break in a expensive woofer & risk messing up anything .....

[nervewrecker]

because of the very little power involved to get the speaker going at Fs in free air, i doubt a cooling period is really necessary.

Personally, i'd prefer to run it at around 1/2 - 2/3 of it's full mechanical excursion capability. That way i'm sure i'm 'breaking in' the components and not placing any 'wear' on them. Operating for long periods at maximum excursion can wear down some spiders imo..

Also, i would run the subwoofer in that state overnight, which should represent a week or two of typical playing time..

so could it be that my sub not broken in yet?

I dont even get 1/4 excursion, for daily play I play it at 30 - 35 volume, 40-46 max while im on the road. at those volumes songs like "I put on" young jeezy does sound nice & the sub hardly moves (no sub sonic filter).
I have never reached volume 55 yet, I reached 50 once to give smokeygti a demo with late night tip.
the sub is still stiff but sounds a little more loose from how it was when it was new.

[Brian Steele]

What is the recommended proceedure for breaking in a subwoofer?

"Breaking in" a subwoofer isn't really necessary unless you plan to measure its T/S parameters for some reason. Even then, it's questionable. I believe Tom Nousaine did a test a few years ago with a Dynaudio sub and the results indicated that there was basically negligable shift in the parameters after break-in (and he followed Dynaudio's recommendations too).

That said, "breaking in" is usually a side-product of my other testing anyway. I like to run a new subwoofer free-air with a low-frequency signal at sufficient volume to get the cone really moving, to determine how badly it suffers from motor-noise. That test is enough to accomplish any break-in that may be required by the subwoofer.

[DJ Q]

"Breaking in" a subwoofer isn't really necessary unless you plan to measure its T/S parameters for some reason.

Isn't breaking in necessary before running a subwoofer at full recommended power due to the stiffness of the suspension among other things? Correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm here to learn too

[ChristianRD]

"Breaking in" a subwoofer isn't really necessary unless you plan to measure its T/S parameters for some reason.

Isn't breaking in necessary before running a subwoofer at full recommended power due to the stiffness of the suspension among other things? Correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm here to learn too

You actually questioning Mr. diysubwoofers.org ?

[DJ Q]

For the love of sanity please shut up if you have nothing to add.

Thank you.

[Brian Steele]

Isn't breaking in necessary before running a subwoofer at full recommended power due to the stiffness of the suspension among other things? Correct me if I'm wrong.

If you actually need to do that for any subwoofer, you probably should be investing your money in better subwoofers

[DJ Q]

This re-writes my entire concept of subwoofers... back to step 1 for me.


*steps back, sits down & whips out notebook*

[mumra]

i was under the impression yuh had tuh break it in b4 applying full power to a new Subwoofer..............

[mumra]

especially in cases like mine where i have 2 spiders and a big suspension...

[- Rovin's car audio -]

Isn't breaking in necessary before running a subwoofer at full recommended power due to the stiffness of the suspension among other things? Correct me if I'm wrong.

If you actually need to do that for any subwoofer, you probably should be investing your money in better subwoofers

so if i understand what ur saying i cud buy a brand new sub rated 1500wrms just drop it in a box designed for it (proper install of course) & play it right away with full the 1500wrms without any worries of damaging it ???


so um :

taken from DD site :

We recommend to allow at least several weeks of playing time to break in DD Woofers, full break in may take many months. DO NOT play subwoofers at max amplifier power in the first couple of days, give the suspensions a chance to loosen up. As the suspension breaks in, the subs will play lower and louder.

whats up with this ? ...