Speaker Break In...? Or listener “Break In”?

Listener.

Remember: audiophiles think EVERYTHING "burns in."


The audiophile assumption of burn in is a convenient shibboleth for manufacturers to say "you need to keep our speakers for 200 to 500 hours and THEN you’ll know what they really sound like." Foot-in-the-door psychology and all that.

From what I’ve read driver burn in has been measured, but mostly occurs very quickly, as in not long after you play music through them.I’ve seen other measured burn in for some drivers that take longer, but again it seems the implications for audibility seem very minor.
I've visited fellow audiophiles who just got new speakers and put them through the ringer with my own music.  A week or more later they say "I think these things have burned in - the seem to have settled down and seem more mellow."  I drop over:  nope.  Sounds exactly as I remembered them.  My inference is my friend's ears have simply adjusted over time to the sound.

Both, actually. And, it can take quite a number of hours dialing in the " sweet spot " in the room: speakers relative to the walls / corners, and the location of the speakers, relative to the listening chair. Not to mention, the acoustics of the room.

It’s not multiple choice, dudes. This is just one more example of non audiophiles thinking there are two sides to some issue or another. 

This is a very interesting topic...
Prof, very good point!
I think our listening "burns-in" probably more-so than the speakers. 
Just my opinion; but audio equipment "burns-in" quite a bit quicker than we think and/or led to believe.

In my opinion, break in is real, with speakers more than electronics. Having said that, I also believe that if you don’t like the sound of a piece of equipment out of the box, no amount of break in is going to change that. The change is small, not substantial. If it were, what manufacturer would send it out just hoping for the best?