Question Is speaker 'burn in' real?

[Deleted member 201267]

I suspect the mass-produced Chinese speakers, like my little Q Acoustics, aren’t tested at all, or only for continuity. By contrast, I’m pretty sure ATC test every driver at full power with a frequency sweep. After all they are all handmade in house. So they are ‘burned in’ before shipping.

The acclimatisation is real though, both temperature and humidity. Back in my shop days, cold, brand new speakers from the stock room almost always sounded awful for at least a few minutes, if not all day. The ones played constantly always sounded best!

ATC = Quality...

 

[davidf]

I suspect the mass-produced Chinese speakers, like my little Q Acoustics, aren’t tested at all, or only for continuity. By contrast, I’m pretty sure ATC test every driver at full power with a frequency sweep. After all they are all handmade in house. So they are ‘burned in’ before shipping.

Last I heard, the cabinets for the entry level range were made in China, so not fully in-house, but more in-house than some

 

[nopiano]

Last I heard, the cabinets for the entry level range were made in China, so not fully in-house, but more in-house than some

Yes, I’d read or heard somewhere that the ‘entry’ series cabinets weren’t made here, but I understand the assembly is done in the Gloucestershire factory where all the drive units are made.

 

[Oxfordian]

Yes, I’d read or heard somewhere that the ‘entry’ series cabinets weren’t made here, but I understand the assembly is done in the Gloucestershire factory where all the drive units are made.

Sure about this?

I could understand the cabinets for the smaller SCM 7, 11 and possibly 19's cases being made elsewhere but the £4k+ SCM40's and £7k+ 40A's although in the 'Entry' line up would surely be UK made wouldn't they?

But I wouldn't be overly surprised if the cabinets were made elsewhere, after all it is getting increasingly common to have electronics design and assembled in the UK but manufactured in China.

 

[davidf]

Sure about this?

I could understand the cabinets for the smaller SCM 7, 11 and possibly 19's cases being made elsewhere but the £4k+ SCM40's and £7k+ 40A's although in the 'Entry' line up would surely be UK made wouldn't they?

But I wouldn't be overly surprised if the cabinets were made elsewhere, after all it is getting increasingly common to have electronics design and assembled in the UK but manufactured in China.

7, 9, 11, and 40 was what I was told. This was to keep the, competitive.

 

[nopiano]

Sure about this?

I could understand the cabinets for the smaller SCM 7, 11 and possibly 19's cases being made elsewhere but the £4k+ SCM40's and £7k+ 40A's although in the 'Entry' line up would surely be UK made wouldn't they?

But I wouldn't be overly surprised if the cabinets were made elsewhere, after all it is getting increasingly common to have electronics design and assembled in the UK but manufactured in China.

I’m sure it is what I was told. But that doesn’t guarantee its accuracy, for sure.

The discussion was in the context of there being only one wood veneer option, the classic Cherry. By contrast, at much higher RRP, the likes of PMC offer Walnut, Oak and so on.

However, I’m 100% certain every drive unit is made and all assembly is done in the ATC factory because I’ve seen several videos about it.

 

[monad]

2 real world emo feelie examples:
1. i just put on some speakers, UREI 813 (Altec 6048G/ JBL 2226H picking up the low end for the replaced(?!?!) 416s.

they hadn't been played in over a year.. and when I put them back into system, they sounded different that they did just a few hours later.

2. i just got a new DAC, maybe the best DAC ever.. (ok JK, it is) but the sound change, from the start, after the first minute of play to 'a few hours later', was dramatic. The sound after 24 hours then changed, in a noticeable manner, throughout the next 100 or so hours.

someone smarter than me, (which may possibly be everyone) explained the phenomena as 'dielectric stabilization' and said that as the current passes through electronics, it changes the metals at some micro level and makes them 'more efficient' or something like that.. idk.

i could just as easily be saying voodoo magic makes caps sound different as the spell begins to work on the substrate.. and 'understand the under the hood/ what's inside the baseball', in the same manner.

 

[Romulus]

Then there are some who believe if interconnect cables lie in a certain way among the components usually situated on a rack the sound seems to improve or change. Maybe hIFi voodoo is at work, especially if you switch of all lights in the audio room and place lit scented candles on either side of your amp and kneel infront of your system and meditate on the quality of the music.😊

 

[Oxfordian]

Then there are some who believe if interconnect cables lie in a certain way among the components usually situated on a rack the sound seems to improve or change. Maybe hIFi voodoo is at work, especially if you switch of all lights in the audio room and place lit scented candles on either side of your amp and kneel infront of your system and meditate on the quality of the music.😊

Scented candles are key to musical nirvana, don’t knock the candles or the gods of electrical interference will pay your system a visit.

Now where is my kneeling mat.