Speaker Burn In...

i would say the more you play the speakers the more they wear out as they are mechanical devices, the more the cones or diaphrams move in and out and flex-the spiders and the surrounds wear out. i dont believe in burning in a speaker...they just wear out...my speakers sound the same as when i purchased brand new, that they do now 20 yrs later.

It seems most used speakers for sale on Audiogon are advertised as having low usage/hours. This contradicts the subject of the need to burn-in speakers, which also seems common on Audiogon.

Absolutely can`t agree with Ditusa. If diaphragms movement flex-the spiders then these are not made from optimum material. I can`t actually imagine a speakers like this.
I know that some speaker manufacturers burn in the drivers already in factory. Maybe your experience is based on some of these brands.
Of course speakers wear a bit out as they are mechanical devices but they also need to run in like most other mechanical devices. Like cars for example.
In my experience speaker burn in makes tremendous difference.

There is physical evidence of driver's T&S parameters changing after some use. As for electrical components, most noticeably capacitors and resistors require some burn in time before they sound right.

Drivers usually don't wear out(sans foam rot), but the electronics inside them can after 15-20 year, especially electrolytic capacitors.

I have found that speakers do not so much require 'burn in' as 'break in'.

I believe it's a matter of the actual mechanism requiring a bit of 'loosening up' for the speakers to sound optimal.

There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that this holds true; I once purchase a pair of NHT 1.3's, but they didn't have them in stock. I borrowed the demos until mine came in on order. When I got my NIB speakers home, they did not sound anywhere NEAR as good as the demo pair i had been using. They sounded flat, uninvolving, totally lacking in bass, undynamic...

Day and night, i tell ya. I simply played my new speakers at moderate volumes as often as i could to get them to loosen up. I am in total disagreement with anyone stating that speaker break-in is pyschosomatic.

Just play music - and lots of it! your speakers will break in eventually and you can enjoy/observe the changes in the process along the way.