If you are a car enthusiast or just want to save money, you might be thinking that a quick blast of your favorite tunes might be all you need to do. Do you need to break in new car speakers?
But if you’re like most people, you might be in the dark about how much time is needed for your car speakers to reach optimum performance. The reality is that the sound of your car’s speakers will get better with time as the result of a process called “breaking in”.
But, is it really that important? And if so, how long does it take? Let’s take a look at the science behind “breaking in” and how new car speakers need this process before they reach their full potential.
Related Article: Do Speakers Really Break In?
What is breaking in?
Breaking in speakers is a process similar to breaking in new shoes. When you buy a new pair of shoes, they are often stiff and uncomfortable at the start. But after you wear them for a few hours or even more, they become more comfortable and your feet don’t hurt as much.
The same concept applies to speakers. It takes time for the speaker cone to “break in”.
When you turn on your car stereo for the first time, it might sound quite different than what it will sound like after some time has passed.
That’s because the speaker needs some time to be pushed by electricity and heat up, which also causes air to flow through the speaker properly.
But how long does it take? While it varies from speaker to speaker depending on its make and model, most speakers take about 50 hours of playtime before they reach their full potential.
How Long Does it Take for Speakers to Break In?
The process of breaking in will take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. The length of time needed for speakers to break in is dependent on the weight, materials and design of the speaker.
There are three types of new car speakers that need a break-in period: paper cone, polypropylene (plastic) cone and metal cone. All three types require differing periods to break in because their compositions are different and the amount of time needed for them to “break in” varies.
A paper cone speaker, for example, has a long break-in period (a few hundred hours). A polypropylene (plastic) cone speaker requires more time than paper cones but less than metal cones.
Metal cone speakers need the least amount of time to break-in (a few days), but they also provide the lowest quality sound during this process.
Essentially, it takes less time for low quality speakers to reach optimum performance because they are already at their maximum potential when they come out of the box. Higher quality speakers require more time because they need to gradually improve over a longer period of use.
The Benefits of Breaking in New Car Speakers
Sound waves are created by an object vibrating. When the sound wave is produced, it will cause the speaker cone to vibrate in a linear movement. The more time it takes for this vibration to die down, the better your audio will be.
When speakers are new, they are stiff and have a hard time reproducing all of the frequencies in your music. This is because it has been tightly packed up until you opened the box and took out your new car speakers.
Your speaker’s ability to produce those frequencies will improve with time as they break in
You see, when you first play your music on your car speakers, they will be full of energy but not necessarily filled with sound waves that you want.
You might notice that there are some notes missing or that certain notes are too loud while others are too soft or don’t come at all. But as time goes on, these speakers will begin to loosen up and vibrate in a more linear motion which produces better sounding audio. In other words, breaking in new car speakers takes time but is worth it!
How to Properly Break in New Car Speakers
There are a few ways to break in speakers. The optimal way is to use a CD player and play one of your favorite CDs. This will make sure the entire speaker system is broken in properly. But if you don’t have time for this, there are other options as well.
You can achieve similar results by playing your favorite songs on an iPod or laptop with quality speakers and plugging in the auxiliary cable from the car stereo into it.
Make sure to play your favorite music at moderate volume for 12-24 hours every day for about two weeks before assessing your car’s sound system’s performance.
The end result? Your car’s speakers will sound better than they did when you first bought them because they have been broken in!
How and Why to Break in your New Speakers Klipsch
Break-in is different for every speaker. Factors that can affect break-in time include the type of music played and the power of the amplifier.
If you have a high-powered amp, listen to your new speakers at relatively low volumes (2/3 volume is recommended) to prevent blowouts. If you have a lower-powered amp, play your new speakers at a higher volume to help them reach their full potential more quickly.
It takes about 20 hours of play for most speakers to fully break in.
Speaker break in at low volume
Believe it or not, speakers need to be run at a low volume for a certain period of time before they can reach their full potential. What happens is that the woofer and the tweeter are in contact with one another and this causes some friction.
This friction between the two components causes the cone to move in a way that makes your ears believe it’s producing sound.
Additionally, when you’re running the speaker at a low volume, sound waves have more “wiggle room” and they don’t get too close together as they would at a high volume. By adding distance between these sound waves, speakers break in more quickly without affecting the tone quality.
How to break in speakers
If you are wondering how to break in speakers, there are a few different ways. One way is to play your favorite music on them for at least 100 hours. Another way is to play your favorite music at high volume for about 30 minutes every day.
However, this is not the best way as it will diminish the life of your speakers. The best way to break in speaker is by playing them with a wide variety of music – classical, jazz and country music, for example – for about 250 hours.
The reason for this is that different types of music require different frequencies, which in turn requires the speaker to be pushed in different ways. This will help the speakers reach their full potential faster and more efficiently, as well as last longer.
Car speaker break in period
The Car speakers are made up of complex materials. They need to reach the “breaking in” period before they can function at their optimum level. Car speakers are not just a simple cone, there’s a lot more to them than that.
The speaker contains many different parts which move in different ways. When these parts are new, they might not be able to move as easily as they do after being broken in for awhile.
It refers to how the speaker will change over time as it adjusts its internal components so that they can function and respond better internally.
These changes happen gradually but without this break-in period, your car speakers might not work very well. The best way to know if your speakers are functioning properly is to listen for deep lows or trebles that cut through the musical mix and sound good when you turn up the volume. If you don’t hear any of these sounds, then you need to keep breaking them in until you do!
You can expect your car speakers to sound better after a few days of driving with them.
If you drive with your new car speakers at least once every day, they should break in within the first month.
Breaking in speakers is a process similar to breaking in new shoes. When you buy a new pair of shoes, they are often stiff and uncomfortable at the start. But after you wear them for a few hours or even more, they become more comfortable and your feet don’t hurt as much.
Conclusion
After you get your new speakers for your car, it can take time for them to break in. But you have to break in your new speakers to get the best sound quality out of them. While it may take some time and a little patience, you will be rewarded with the best sound possible. If you follow this process, the rewards will be well worth the effort.
