Okay, How Important Is Speaker Break In? (Dynaudio Contour 60i)

Thanks Charyo.  Indeed the B&W's (to whom I have sincerely apologized for being momentarily attracted by the tall, brown-skinned younger model) may be restored to their prior home, and nice thought on how good my cables could be for a fraction of the cost of new speakers.  My weekend project now is going to be building some low-rise wheeled platforms so I can throw speaker options and placement around a bit more freely in the space.

I have had my Contour 60i speakers now for a couple of months.  I am not consistently available to play an audio session so at this point I have only about 70 hours of run in time on them.  I found them to be a bit bright, initially.  After about 35 hours they tamed down a considerable amount.  Since then I have noticed further taming in the upper midrange and lower high frequency range.  Soundstage and imaging are absolutely amazing and I do not want to lose any of that.  So, next step was to provide more room treatments.  I added a center treatment panel (positioned between the speakers and covering about 80% the width between them).  That made a very significant difference.  Vocals, string, and wind instruments are better than ever.  I also pulled them a couple inches further from the wall than where I had them.  That, I believe, played a role as well.  The front of the speaker is now at 36" from the wall.  Based on the changes in sound over the run-in hours of playing, I tend to believe they will continue to improve.  At this point I am very satisfied and they are truly a first class speaker in every way, from build quality to sonic quality.  I think that relative to other speakers out there these are priced at least $3K below market value.  So much depends on what your individual tastes are for music reproduction.  These speakers are "alive" but not "in your face, brash".  You may prefer a very laid back or even dark sounding speaker. The Contour 60i is not that type of sound.  The choice is yours, of course. The system you have should work well with the Contour 60i, so I don't believe that is any sort of issue.  Try moving them further out from the wall, if you can, even just a couple of inches.  Be sure to place some room treatment between them and most certainly at the first reflection point for either side (if you don't already) and I think you'll find a really good speaker on hand.  Again, their soundstage and imaging characteristics are amazing and you should take that into consideration as a big role in what a speaker does for your listening pleasure.  Hope this helps.

OP,
Yes they need breaking in.  One to three hundred hours for most, but that will bring out mostly subtle improvements.  For this reason, I agree with miller.  If you aren’t wowed from the beginning, send them back!  
All the best.

JD

Okay, update......BREAK IN IS FOR REAL!!! - certaintly with these speakers.  Contour 60i's are some very nice speakers.  Detail is excellent, bass is excellent, soundstage is excellent, mid-range....is almost there.  There are moments when I could say there is a touch of hardness or tinniness at appreciable volume, but increasingly fewer and more muted.  These are calming down nicely, and becoming commanding and enjoyable.  Can't say enough about the bass.  In Eric Clapton MTV unplugged, Tears in Heaven, there is a very soft kickdrum beat that is quiet, yet crisp and visceral at the same time...very nice finesse on the bass.  And I am only around 30 hours in.  Thanks again for all your help.

I think you are describing the ‘tilt’ in speaker sound that many manufacturers are leaning towards. 
The Brystons won’t be helping. Try an ARC power amp - much smoother and more natural in mid / high frequencies.

They sound beautiful with Dynaudio, although the bass will be a touch softer, but in a very pleasant way.