I've just bought some new Naim kit and it says it takes a long time to run in. How would you propose that i do this and how long will it take? Should i simply leave it switched on all day or do i need to play a CD for seven or eight hours at a time?
There are four important steps to running in.shep1968 said:I've just bought some new Naim kit and it says it takes a long time to run in. How would you propose that i do this and how long will it take? Should i simply leave it switched on all day or do i need to play a CD for seven or eight hours at a time?
+ living it ON 24/7...steve_1979 said:There are four important steps to running in.shep1968 said:I've just bought some new Naim kit and it says it takes a long time to run in. How would you propose that i do this and how long will it take? Should i simply leave it switched on all day or do i need to play a CD for seven or eight hours at a time?
1. Switch on hifi.
2. Play music.
3. Enjoy music.
4. Stop worrying about running in.![]()
Not too sure about that Steve. Current experience suggests that when something's not right audibly, it needs looking at. In my case, I needed to shift the speaker positioning to combat the UD7007's neutral and somewhat bass light presentation. Now I can play and enjoy the music. But sometimes it takes a little work...steve_1979 said:There are four important steps to running in.shep1968 said:I've just bought some new Naim kit and it says it takes a long time to run in. How would you propose that i do this and how long will it take? Should i simply leave it switched on all day or do i need to play a CD for seven or eight hours at a time?
1. Switch on hifi.
2. Play music.
3. Enjoy music.
4. Stop worrying about running in.![]()
Dave explains it very well - I agree with all his points.davedotco said:Running in electronics is a nonsense, just a device to get the owner to take a little time to adjust to the new sound or presentation.
Optimum temperature is a different issue, the measured characteristics of individual components (transistors, capacitors etc) will vary with temperature and competent design will take this into account. Most pieces of hi-fi equipment sound better at thier optimum temperature, in the case of high current devices such as power amplifiers, they reach this temperature quite quickly, low current devices such as dacs or pre-amps may take a lot longer to come up to temperature and may work best if left permanently powered up.
Speakers are different, they are mechanical devices and surrounds, spiders etc, may be a little stiff when new. Some usage will soften them and once again competent designers will have taken this into account, they will sound better after some use, how much use in impossible to say, but more than a week or so of normal use strikes me as excessive.
You might be right about the cantilever but a diamond being polished by vinyl?Johnno2 said:Only thing I havereally noticed run in / break in is on a AT95E moving magnet cartridge, the cantiliver must loosen up and the tip gets a little polished well thats my take on it ,
I'm sure last time this topic came up someone posted a link to a survey of speaker manufacturers asking them their thoughts on this matter, I believe, with one noticable exception, they all pretty much agreed that whilst speakers do need breaking in, it actually occurs in the factory during testing as it takes in the region of 10 seconds or so.davedotco said:Speakers are different, they are mechanical devices and surrounds, spiders etc, may be a little stiff when new. Some usage will soften them and once again competent designers will have taken this into account, they will sound better after some use, how much use in impossible to say, but more than a week or so of normal use strikes me as excessive.
but the diamond tip does wear eventually ?The_Lhc said:You might be right about the cantilever but a diamond being polished by vinyl?Johnno2 said:Only thing I havereally noticed run in / break in is on a AT95E moving magnet cartridge, the cantiliver must loosen up and the tip gets a little polished well thats my take on it ,
Interesting.The_Lhc said:I'm sure last time this topic came up someone posted a link to a survey of speaker manufacturers asking them their thoughts on this matter, I believe, with one noticable exception, they all pretty much agreed that whilst speakers do need breaking in, it actually occurs in the factory during testing as it takes in the region of 10 seconds or so.davedotco said:Speakers are different, they are mechanical devices and surrounds, spiders etc, may be a little stiff when new. Some usage will soften them and once again competent designers will have taken this into account, they will sound better after some use, how much use in impossible to say, but more than a week or so of normal use strikes me as excessive.
Being cynical, that could have been the "keep them running in until the returns period has expired" carddavedotco said:I recall that in my days as a dealer a fair number of speaker manufacturers with whom we had good relations were quite adamant about their products needing runing in. They may of course simply have been playing the 'give yourself time to adjust' card.
Obviously not all engineers agree on this. I quote another:andyjm said:Dave explains it very well - I agree with all his points.davedotco said:Running in electronics is a nonsense, just a device to get the owner to take a little time to adjust to the new sound or presentation.
Optimum temperature is a different issue, the measured characteristics of individual components (transistors, capacitors etc) will vary with temperature and competent design will take this into account. Most pieces of hi-fi equipment sound better at thier optimum temperature, in the case of high current devices such as power amplifiers, they reach this temperature quite quickly, low current devices such as dacs or pre-amps may take a lot longer to come up to temperature and may work best if left permanently powered up.
Speakers are different, they are mechanical devices and surrounds, spiders etc, may be a little stiff when new. Some usage will soften them and once again competent designers will have taken this into account, they will sound better after some use, how much use in impossible to say, but more than a week or so of normal use strikes me as excessive.
I have searched the web for some justification of Naim's position on running electronics in, as well as their 'directional speaker cables' claims. I have been unable to find any justification from them for either position. You would have though that if they had solid reasons for this that they would explain them.
This is absolute rubbish. New speaker drivers change as they are played - often for hours. It depends on the surrounds - hard rubber surrounds and drivers with low mechanical Q need more running in. This isn't just a golden ears thing - as woofers are broken in their Fs (resonant frequency) goes measureably lower. There is plenty of data about this available. A speaker with really stiff woofers (e.g., Gallo Reference 3.5 comes to mind) will see a drop in Fs of 20 or even 30 Hz over 50 or even 100 hours.The_Lhc said:I'm sure last time this topic came up someone posted a link to a survey of speaker manufacturers asking them their thoughts on this matter, I believe, with one noticable exception, they all pretty much agreed that whilst speakers do need breaking in, it actually occurs in the factory during testing as it takes in the region of 10 seconds or so.