Breaking in my Summits

Hello!

Within a week my Summits will arive.
I understood that I have to break them in for about 500 hours to have them sound the way they should.

I tried to find a topic in this forum about breaking in speakers, but couldn't find one; so:
- what is the most efficient way to break in the Summits?
- do I have them play music 24 hours a day?
- how loud?
- any particular music?
- are there things I should know and/or not do?

Thanks in advance,

best regards: Ronald

My Summits are now 8 months old. Only yesterday when I was listening to some particularly well recorded CD's was I thinking how good they now sound. (I thought they were run in properly a couple of months ago. I was wrong. They are now run in). So 500 hours sounds about right - that's about what I have now accrued. I guess it doesn't matter how you do it, whether continuously, or incrementally as I have done - just so long as you do it.

The best way to break them in is to listen to them The break-in process is a gradual thing, and listening to them (they still sound great) while they're breaking in is enjoyable...and useful.

If you want to speed up the break in process, playing them at around or a little above listening volume for extended periods works well. My suggestion is to try to play music that has the full frequency range, as a lot of time, light listening won't loosen up the woofer section much at all.

My Quest Zs are still breaking in

I found that the first 12hrs was the most dramatic. I would leave them on non-stop if you could. I am unable to do so. I just play them and enjoy.....Maybe the Summit Tilt spikes will help just kidding. Check it out though.


Here is the link-
http://www.martinloganowners.com/~tdacquis/forum/showthread.php?t=3735&highlight=summit+spike

Main item are the woofers

Ronald,

First off, congratulations on your purchase. I strongly suspect you are about to enjoy music like you've never experienced before.

I am in the 100 hours / 90% performance "camp" on the break in period. Some have questioned, and rightly so, the issue of auditory memory as it pertains to subtle changes in sound over a period of days / weeks.

My sense is that they really start to sing after 500 hours. Can't prove it because it is, like so many things in our wonderful hobby, so subjective.

I'd suggest playing material with a lot of mid / low bass content to loosen up the bass drivers. From my recollection, that's what takes the most break in time.

Also, be advised that the crossover settings have a dramatic effect on the overall sound of the Summits. I am able to hear adjustments in the 1/4 db range. So, once you get close regarding speaker position, use the crossovers to "dial in" the sound. Too much bass energy will adversely affect the overall transparency of the speaker. Fine tune with material that has a well recorded voice with acoustic bass. Patricia Barber's recordings work quite well in this regard.

Good luck and happy listening.

GG :cheers:

I also suggest at least 500 hrs of break-in time, before your Summits will really be singing.

I also use Patricia Barber and Cassandra Wilson (bass, voice), and Gary Karr (Double-bass) to "tune" the bass settings. In my room/setup, I have the 25 Hz set at the default 0, and 25 Hz at -6.

Someday, I'm gonna fine-tune those settings using the Room EQ Wizard software...
http://www.hometheatershack.com/roomeq

Each time I have to burn-in/break-in stuff I leave the gear on and playing when I leave for work, and it's playing pink noise put on repeat, at normal listening volume.

The very best way to break them in is to bring them over to my place
The official ML break in room

Congratulations Ronald, welcome the Summit club. See Joey for the secret handshake

The easy way is to sit in the sweet spot and play everyone on of your records back to back.

I returned the demonstrators and picked up my new Summits last night. So I am just starting the 'break in period on these'.

Maybe the Summit Tilt spikes will help just kidding. Check it out though.

Click to expand...

Jason, I put the tilt spikes on the new Summits straight away, I think they sound better than the store's set. Tilt spikes rock. I will post pictures on Jason's thread later today.

Congratulations on your new speakers. I now have several hundred hours on my pair of Summits and they still sound better each time I play them. I say just enjoy them and do not worry-they will break in when they break in. I am waiting to see if those who purchased the longer spikes report improvement in image and soundstage height before I attempt this tweak since I already have my speakers spiked on BDR pucks. Enjoy!

I am picking up my Vantages on Monday and would like to add a simple question to this break in thread. Is there any danger of anything happening while I am at work? I live in the woods so I can without issue turn them on and let them go but I would hate to damage anything (amp, tubes, etc.) while away for 12 hours. Say a woofer is faulty and shorts, I really dont want to come home to my electronics smoked. Any worries here or am I just being to cautious?

I know audio memory is fallible. But when I recently played Trio II (Dolly Parton et al) I heard VERY low bass on several tracks. This bass just wasn't there a couple of months ago, and I haven't changed any settings. So in my opinion there's a lot of merit to this 500 + hours before maximum performance is realised...

P.S. aerius007 - I think you're being overly cautious. If you don't detect problems in the first few hours, I don't see why your system should suddenly develop problems while you're away...

aerius007 said:

I live in the woods so I can without issue turn them on and let them go but I would hate to damage anything (amp, tubes, etc.) while away for 12 hours. Say a woofer is faulty and shorts, I really dont want to come home to my electronics smoked.

Click to expand...

And if you're in the bathroom, at home, and they smoke, what will you do ? Or even if you're in front of them and they go for a smoke, what will you do ?
Once they're smoked, they're smoked, with or without your being there

Not to worry

aerius007 said:

I am picking up my Vantages on Monday and would like to add a simple question to this break in thread. Is there any danger of anything happening while I am at work? I live in the woods so I can without issue turn them on and let them go but I would hate to damage anything (amp, tubes, etc.) while away for 12 hours. Say a woofer is faulty and shorts, I really dont want to come home to my electronics smoked. Any worries here or am I just being to cautious?

Click to expand...

As long as your equipment has operated for several hours running at moderate to high (85 to 95) DB levels, without technical / hardware issues, this should not be a problem. The safe option is to play at "medium" volume / 80 - 85 DB while you are away.

GG

GregLett said:

The very best way to break them in is to bring them over to my place
The official ML break in room

Click to expand...

OK, but only if you pick them up at my place and bring them back after 500 hours: The Hague, Netherlands.

lugano said:

And if you're in the bathroom, at home, and they smoke, what will you do ? Or even if you're in front of them and they go for a smoke, what will you do ?
Once they're smoked, they're smoked, with or without your being there

Click to expand...

I am going to chime here...once I had a smoking amp, one channel went bad, but if I was not there, the problem could be worse...I had the time to disconnect the mains A.C. before the protection came on...and save me a couple of hundreds. It was a severe damage at the output stage, and it was good that I was there when did happen...if I was at the bathroom or else, not in my room, then I could not help the amp to be safer, I mean the problem could be worse. Many protection is done by fuses, right?...and the fuse that was at my power supply was not sensing fast, the problem that the amp had...why? I still don´t know. I guess it was oversized, over-rated...I was very lucky that was there when I had the problem. I think this is what he si saying. When something is going to smoke, being there or not, it will happen...yes, but I could help to make my problem with less damage.
Regarding the burning time, I will enjoy the transformation with patience...out of the box, they sing not as they would be singing later, but are a joule to use...don´t rush, happy listening,
Roberto.