best way to break in Sound Labs U1?

Just play music on 'em! They don't need any special break-in procedure. They'll sound a bit better after a couple hundred hours, but it's not like you have to wait until then before they sound good.

To me, they sound more lively after being plugged in for a half-hour or so than they do at first. After abour three days of being plugged in I think they sound even better still. Every two or three weeks unplug them overnight to let the charges dissipate. Roger West suggested this to me as a routine maintenance; he compared the static charge on the diaphragm to a stretched rubber band, and said it's a good idea to let it relax every now and then.

Feel free to give me a holler if you have any questions and I'll do my best.

Duke

I mostly agree with Duke, except about break in.

Having owned multiple pairs of Sound-Lab over a 15 year period, optimum break in does not occur until after 800 hours (or about 7 months use).

I'm not saying you won't enjoy them until then, but U-1's don't max out their performance until fully broken in.

Oh, I should have added:

Music with big dynamics and heavy bass after the first month of break in will speed up the time before they sound best, each time you start from cold (system off for several days).

Lots of parts in the crossover and for some reason big dynamics and powerful bass quickly overcomes the "cold compression sound" of first starting them up.