Monitor 50 speaker break-in question

[Blind_man_Wayne]

Hi all,

I just bought two Monitor 50 speakers. I use them with my RCA STA-3900 receiver bought new at Radio Shack for $100. My CD player is a SONY CDP-CE335 costing about the same. I have about $400 invested in my stereo system.

The audio is decent, but a bit bright. I immediately found it necessary to significantly reduce the bass and treble settings on my receiver from where they were set with my previous speakers. I have about 30 to 40 hours on the Monitor 50s. I’ve heard that it can take up to 100 hours or more to break in a speaker. How likely is it that my new speakers will sound warmer down the road? The midrange is where I hope they become more responsive.

[xcapri79]

Welcome to Club Polk. The Monitor 50's are a nice set of speakers to start out with.
They are very good speakers at their price point.

As with many topics in audio performance, I will say that there are many views concerning speaker break-in.
In my opinion, your 30 - 40 hours are more than enough for speaker break-in.
1 hour or less may have been sufficient. Your 100 hours will come soon enough anyways.

Many believe that the speaker is already broken in by the manufacturer during testing so no further customer break-in is actually required.

I found the following a useful reference on the subject.

http://www.audioholics.com/education/loudspeaker-basics/speaker-break-in-fact-or-fiction

Word of caution here.
On this forum, many consider Audioholics as an invalid source of good audio information and discredit them at every opportunity.
Personally, I believe that they provide well thought out explanations along with test results.
Like all debates there remains disagreement.
I would say that many hold religious-like convictions to their ideas, so you can expect strong differing views on this.

The most important thing is to enjoy your system and keep an open mind.
Listen to as many different systems that you can and let your ears and judgement be your guide.

From your comment, I'm not sure why you would want to decrease the bass with the M50's.
Typically with the M50's or 60 you will want to improve your bass and not decrease it.
To do that, I would suggest adding a subwoofer.
A good low cost unit is the PSW505. I believe you can still purchase it from Newegg for about $250.

[cnh]

Good advice above...

Also keep in mind that a cheaper Radio Shack receiver is probably going to be BRIGHT...and even a bit harsh for a speaker like the M50 which has decent high end details and well defined midrange. I'd invest in another receiver or amp.....but a sub might also help.

If you can't hear good midrange after 50-100 hours of break-in time...it is TIME to trash your receiver!

cnh

[mmadden28]

Time to 'break in' in your speaker will vary depending on what music your using to break it in with. I would imaging something that makes the drivers move visibly will work the best (without over doing it) for breaking in the spider and surround of the driver.
Just mix it up with a good variety of music. Some companies make CDs to just that for you.
IMHO, I'm doubtful the manufacturer does nearly enough, if any, testing on ALL of the drivers and crossovers that leave the factory-probably a sampling from each batch would be my guess. But not enough to properly break them in.

Again just my thinking, but the 'spider' and 'surround' in the driver itself are new and likely stiff. Getting them moving will help loosen them up and move more freely. This is immediately evident if you compare a vintage driver to the same model new driver.
Secondly the capacitors in the Crossover also need to be broken in--I hear it said everytime somebody does a XO cap replacement, that they sound harsh or bright when first used, but calm down over time.

It should also be noted that not all speakers mate well with all recievers/amps--apparently some have better synergy than others with each other.

Anyway, just give them some time--Play something through them when you're not home, and Welcome to Club Polk!