How to "break-in" new speakers??


A number of posts regarding the so-called "break-in-time" (or is it "burn-in-time) for new speakers have muddied the waters for me. If I recall correctly, some posts recommend that new speaker "break-in" could run anywhere from several hours to 175 hours, or more (good grief!), depending on the speaker manufacturer and model/type in question. In my case they would be the Rega RS-1 bookshelves. On other posts I have read that burning-in is a red-herring and should be ignored. I have also read that a proper burn-in should be done at a high volume, but not so high as to damage the speakers (an unnecessary caution), while simultaneously running the speakers non-stop for the necessary burn-in period. I find myself especially resistant to the last half of these recommendations, if only because I would like to think it possible to get a good nights sleep while simultaneously doing right by my speakers. I can only hope that however many responses I receive will not further muddy the already dark waters.
georgester
Mirage also warns against playing new speakers loudly until they've completed the break-in period of around 100 hours. 100 hours is 2/3 of a week at 24 hours/day. If you listen 2 hours a day it would take almost 2 months to complete initial break-in. Some brands (e.g., Totem) specify a break-in period more like 500 hours. That's three solid weeks of 24/7 or 8 months at 2 hours/day.

I put on FM radio or iPod running at low volume 24/7, and turn it up to moderate levels for listening. Breaking in my subwoofers was less intrusive because I turned off signal to the mains. The subs breaking in sounded like somebody was having a not-too-loud party two floors down.
the excessive 'break in' times are recommended, so that if the speakers sound like crap, after 500 hours they will still sound like crap, but you will be used to them and think they sound good. (The brain will do that) At the prices some of these people charge, they had better put a smile on my face at first listen. Unless of course, you are allowed a 'break in' time to pay for them.
1. connect
2. turn on
3. enjoy
4. play at low levels for first hour. this allows crossover caps to form.
5. turn 'em up louder than you normally listen for about a minute, after 10 to 20 hours of listening.
suppose a dealer played a pair of new speakers for several hundred hours, then put them back in the boxes and sold them without mentioning that they had been played for hundreds of hours. How many people would get them home and say, wow, they are already broken in? How many would say, they sounded better after I played them a few hundred hours? Answer this, and you have your answer to speaker break in.
let's conject an opposite scenario. A dealer sells a pair of speakers which were never opened. Tho, before the sale closes, he pitches' " we never sell a wine... uhm...speaker before it's time. We painstakingly brake these in with the utmost diligence, the finest gear and the cleanest electricity available, sure it takes time, of course that adds to the cost, but hey, YOU,!.. deserve the finest! I wanna buy from that guy!!!!!!