ELAC Uni-Fi 2.0 UB52 Bookshelf Speakers (Pair), Black (UB52-BK) $490.07

Excellent speakers, I think this is the lowest price I've seen them.

Excellent speakers, I think this is the lowest price I've seen them.

AJ did it again, theses are great 3-way speakers even at 600 dollar point. They need some time to break in, though. Give them about 50 hours or so, they will sound great.

According to the man who designed these very speakers (Andrew Jones), speaker break-in is a myth. Lol. There's an interview he did with Steve Guttenberg, where Andrew tried to be as diplomatic as possible while debunking the myth. Ppl like Guttenberg are the type that thinks power cords that have been frozen make an audible difference in sound too. Hahaha!
I must commend Andrew for being so truthful. Speaker manufacturers know it's your ears that break-in (get accustomed to) to the sound of the speakers after a while, so it's in their interest to push the myth.

My anecdote is re: headphones, but I got a pair of Audioquest Night owls that I positively detested the moment I put them on my head. I was determined to return them immediately but a card in the box said to break them in for 150 hours, so I stuck them in a drawer with music playing 24 hours a day for a week and then put them back on my head and they were the best headphones I'd ever heard. No time for my brain to "get used" to the sound. So chalk me up for believing moving parts (e.g. rubber surrounds) can change somewhat over time.

Can't say I've experienced it with speakers as pretty much all the speakers I've owned have been second hand, but for what it's worth the nightowls' drivers are supposed to be especially speaker-like.

Furthermore Andrew Jones, while a respected loudspeaker designer, is no omniscient God, it's just his opinion and experience that break in doesn't occur.

Just my $0.02 to counterpoint yours :-)

No one called Andrew jones a speaker god. He's a well respected speaker designed who actually designed the speakers in this deal. You're free to believe what you want, as is anyone.

So you're a speaker/headphone manufacturer who as spent millions upon millions of dollars, building facilities, hiring audio engineers, and everything else required to design, build, ship, and advertise your products. You want (I assume) your customers to be happy with your product. So, if your product created a sound that customers "detested" unless the product was SIMPLY played (broken-in) for 50-100 hrs, why on earth, after spending millions of dollars to make the best product you could, wouldn't you SIMPLY set up a system where you did that "burn in" BEFORE shipping the product? The products have to be plugged into an audio source and be tested anyway. Just leave them plugged up and playing for a few days. Problem solved. Now your customers will now put on their brand new headphones and think they are the best sounding headphones ever! No more negative out-of-the-box experiences, thus way less product returns.

If the materials in your headphone drivers is so malleable that they went from being "detested" to best thing evar within just a few days, they would surely wear out and fall apart within a few weeks of heavy use. Solid materials that change that fast don't just stay at that state. They would continue to change. The sound would also change. Your headphones could go back to making you "detest" the sound in just a few weeks because now the solid parts are too lose. Lol.

Automobile engines have a break in period of something like 1000 miles and don't go on to fall apart after the next 1000. I'm not saying my opinion is 100% correct, just relaying a personal anecdote that seems to have shown that my headphones broke in. I can't imagine any other reason for such a drastic change in perceived quality over a week without listening to them in between.

Lol. I'm not taking about a couple pieces of constantly lubricated metal that rub together while "breaking in". I'm talking about a solid rubber/foam surround and a woven fabric spider. Those are the "wear" items on a driver. They are not rubbing against other materials. They simply flex. If that flexion, over the course of a few days, caused them to "wear" so much, what would stop that accelerated wear? Wear of solid materials due to flexion doesn't stop unless the material stops flexing. What material was once too tight (when new), and is now "perfect", would surely continue to flex/wear to the point of becoming too loose.

We're debating something that has been discussed since time immemorial (at least as far as the internet is concerned), and I don't think we're treading any new ground here.

My only point was to give a personal anecdote as a counterpoint to your reporting on AJ's stance on the matter and I believe I've done that.

Everyone should listen to their ears and if their speakers sound better to them after 50 hours, whether it's due to break in, adjustment, or placebo, they should just be happy. I know I am with my headphones.

My anecdote is re: headphones, but I got a pair of Audioquest Night owls that I positively detested the moment I put them on my head. I was determined to return them immediately but a card in the box said to break them in for 150 hours, so I stuck them in a drawer with music playing 24 hours a day for a week and then put them back on my head and they were the best headphones I'd ever heard. No time for my brain to "get used" to the sound. So chalk me up for believing moving parts (e.g. rubber surrounds) can change somewhat over time.

Can't say I've experienced it with speakers as pretty much all the speakers I've owned have been second hand, but for what it's worth the nightowls' drivers are supposed to be especially speaker-like.

Furthermore Andrew Jones, while a respected loudspeaker designer, is no omniscient God, it's just his opinion and experience that break in doesn't occur.

Just my $0.02 to counterpoint yours :-)