... 30 minutes on moderate volume should be fine

 

This has been a never-ending debate within the high-end audio community. The placebo effect plays a great role in those instances which a listener detects a change. In fact, it's possible -- no probable -- for an individual to detect differences in the sound of their system due to influences such as:

ear fatigue (listening before or after playing with screaming kids) :D
ambient noise floor (time of day when listening -- late night is quieter)
volume levels (do a search on Fletcher-Munson loudness contours)
change in seating position (on or off axis -- or in the path of standing waves)
state of mind (are you listening for enjoyment, or doing some critical listening)
relative humidity (non-treated paper cones could absorb moisture which would change moving mass)
ad-infinitum

Any changes in the electromechanical properties of a driver are induced from wear, not break-in. For instance, butyl rubber surrounds will return to the compliance of their rest state shortly after non-use. This affects excursion. Moving mass won't change unless you add or subtract weight from the cone. Power handling won't change unless you alter the properties of the voice coil and magnet. Of course, clipping your amp could do this...

Again, any changes in system performance are either placebo effect, or simple wear & tear. You might also do some research on psychoacoustics and HRTF (head related transfer function. hth...

 

I think that the main influence is:

The quantity of money spent on the equipment.

A lot of the "wisdom" taught by the high-end audio business is, in physics terms, BS. When the distortion from the desired signal is already down in the wee fractions of a percent, then any further reduction will not be perceivable by anyone, but still the "golden ears" will swear that they hear a difference. This sells a lot of expensive junk, like those $400 power cords and fancy speaker wire.

One of my friends is a sound engineer in the television business. Among his credits is that he was the sound man for Frank Sinatra when Sinatra was on tour. He also does mobile recording for live albums. He makes his living making the artists sound as good as possible, and truly has "golden ears". He can listen to a recording and pick out the sound of a guitar pick hitting the body of a guitar. He laughs at the "high end" stuff, saying that as long as you use good quality equipment and operate it within its limits, nothing is to be gained by spending the "high end" premium except hype and bragging rights.

George

 

Yeah, the correlation between $$$ spent and audiophilia nervosa is quite prevalent in the high end. And yes, there is a lot of bunk with respect to some of the product offerings. Having said that, when it comes to loudspeakers, in most cases one does get what one pays for.

Regarding speaker break-in, that question is asked of us a majority of the time. We respond by telling them that the longer they listen to our speakers, the more they'll like them...and we tell them why: because they get used to the sound. We also let them know that there is no break-in period and that if they're not satisfied with the low end right out of the box, then they're likely not going to be satisfied later. Most consumers aren't aware that a linear response means that for most program material except rap or movie soundtracks, the bass isn't supposed to shake the paint off walls.

When it comes to loudspeakers, it's a very personal choice.

 

Dont waste your life tuning a freaking sound system thats sounds good already, just install and blast.....my 2cents

 

When you are recording music or listening to music at home A decent set of speakers coupled with a decent amplifier will suffice. Unfortunately this is not totally true when it comes to mobile audio... factors come into play like locations/distance of speakers, road noise, interior volume of the car/ temperature etc have a great deal on the way a mobile audio system sounds. Of course it is not visible to many ears buy they are to the few that are trained.

Many people will agree that when it's colder out or when they are sitting still their system seems louder then when warm or moving.

When someone is really enjoying their music at home, they are usually in the center of everything, allowing all the signal sent from the speakers to arrive at the desired location at one point. In a vehicle it's a little more difficult to achieve this effect, however many "HIGHER END" units have a feature to compensate for speaker placement called DTA, or digital time alignment. A gimmick? to some, for me it works, and allows both front passengers to ear the almost the same thing.

Granted not everyone will need a 1000 dollar radio with DTA,fiber optics, built in 4 way crossovers, on a copper chassis, a 300 dollar radio will sound just as good to 90 percent of people, maybe even better. But one must find a medium of performance vs price

"ear fatigue (listening before or after playing with screaming kids) :D
ambient noise floor (time of day when listening -- late night is quieter)
volume levels (do a search on Fletcher-Munson loudness contours)
change in seating position (on or off axis -- or in the path of standing waves)
state of mind (are you listening for enjoyment, or doing some critical listening)
relative humidity (non-treated paper cones could absorb moisture which would change moving mass)[/quote]"

Higher end speakers compensate for the above factors....
Higher end equipment also utilizes up to date technology and allows us to eventually by speakers with simliar technology for a whole lot less in the future...

400 dollars for power cords is a little steep, one shouldnt really need that much unless you are doing a serious sound system, and that's mainly the wire for power, not rcas. there are many gimmicks with rcas... all you need are a decent set, no need for gamma wires or diode isolated wires, those are just for ooohs and aaahs... as long as you don't get those nickel plated ones...

Recording live and studio recording are two totally different environments... I am pretty sure everyone here has heard the difference between a live recording/or show, and a studio recorded album by the same artist. I pick the studio recorded one ... That is why I don't like attending concerts... it is not in it's purist form.

BTW Sales people will say anything to make a sale... go talk to the installers if you want good products the place has to offer...