Good to break in new drivers?

[babsobass]

Just received a couple of brand new tweed tolex Avatar SB112 cabs today with the 12" Eminence neo drivers. Had a couple of questions about the need to break these in. 1) Is it necessary, or is there a benefit, to breaking in new drivers? 2) If it is a good idea to do some kind of break in, what is the easiest way to do it?

[GrowlerBox]

The easiest way is to play through them at moderate volume; back off a little if you hear them start to complain. That threshold tends to increase a bit after a little while (perhaps around 20 hours playing time). Bass response seems to improve a little too.

[lbwdog]

Originally Posted by GrowlerBox

The easiest way is to play through them at moderate volume; back off a little if you hear them start to complain. That threshold tends to increase a bit after a little while (perhaps around 20 hours playing time). Bass response seems to improve a little too.

+1
I think that's all you need to do. I never gave any thought to it, probably because for years, I played JBL 15s that were well broken in already.
But when I loaded a Kappalite 3015LF into a Carvin LS1503, I didn't hear much improvement until I had played a couple of gigs with it. Then......the bass opened up like the Red Sea parting.

So yeah....just play 'em a bit. They'll loosen up and you should be fine.

edit: I will say, don't try to blow the house down at first. Just give 'em some exercise to loosen up the surrounds.

[Sundogue]

I usually crank my bass to 11, making sure I have ALL the lows boosted and then I slap really hard on my low B string for a couple hours at full output. They're so loose after that, they have literally opened up!

jk

[lbwdog]

Originally Posted by Sundogue

I usually crank my bass to 11, making sure I have ALL the lows boosted and then I slap really hard on my low B string for a couple hours at full output. They're so loose after that, they have literally opened up!

jk

STOP IT!!

[rpsands]

3.5mm -> 1/4 mm adapter, laptop, sine wave generator, bass amp, run at 30hz for a while. That's how I usually roll these days. Keep the volume reasonable. Doesn't take a ton.

An evening of that is a lot faster than waiting a week or two.

[babsobass]

rpsands, thanks for the break in suggestion. Exactly how long to you recommend running the tone?

[Rick Auricchio]

You can run the tone for a day or so. If you go with 25Hz, you won't even hear it as a tone, more like a soft rumble. Run the level up till you see about 3/16" of cone displacement.