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Do you think driver “break in” is real?

Do you think “high end” drivers and crossovers typically need a “break in” period before they sound their best?  I ask because, I believe I’ve experienced this first hand in a very significant way. I replaced the tweeters (same exact brand and model as original) in my ACI Sapphire 25 year anniversary edition speakers and for the first week I thought I’d lost my all time favorite speakers. I was depressed!  So I just kept playing them…  finally after a couple weeks, I’m literally stunned and blown away at how incredible these speakers sound. Completely different than the first 30 or 40 hours after I put in the new Scan Speak tweeters. So I say break in period must be real - at least for some drivers. Has anyone else experienced this to a degree that is unmistakeable?  
Crossovers too?  I just rebuilt the crossovers for a pair of ACI Sapphire XL’s (using highest quality components- same values) and so far they sound mediocre. Hoping for the same result as my other Sapphires but after about 20 hours - no noticeable difference - and they do not even sound as good as prior to crossover rebuild. They sound flat, too bright with poor imaging - but for 10 to 15 years they were pretty great sounding speakers. Thoughts on crossover break in?? 
Thanks to anyone who responds!!  

sal1963
erik_squires
15,794 posts
 

Drivers measurably break in. Some makers specify whether the specs are broken in or not. That is, they’ll say something like "measured after 100 hours..."  Typically this is for woofers and mids which can have noticeable drops in the driver resonance frequency. 

I’ve heard caps break in with very weird, surround like effects until they settled in.

larryi
3,742 posts
 

Speakers are mechanical devices with compliant suspension parts that work by stretching and flexing.  These parts need to be worked to reach the level of suppleness they are supposed to have when operating.  I am less sure about the reliability of reports on break ins taking many hundreds of hours—I would expect some changes, but I suspect that impressions of improvement have more to do with the listener becoming more acclimated to the sound of the new component or parts.

knotscott
814 posts
 

There's a definite physical break in of woofer suspension components...spider, surround, etc.  I'm a believer that there's burn in of capacitors too, but that's less tangible and harder to grasp for some.

mapman's avatar
mapman
21,865 posts
 

Yes it’s real. 

newbee
4,751 posts
 

Anything mechanical benefits from a break in period for sure. Electronic devices can benefit from break in, but not so much and it's not nearly so obvious. On the latter, long periods of break in might just be the breaking in of your ears to a new sound. :-)

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