It is an exciting day, you have just installed new car speakers. You are exhilarated to give it a test run and so you start playing your favorite song. But you are shocked to find out that the speakers don’t sound like when you were testing them in the showroom. You turn up the volume and change to another song, it made your heart drop as you realized your newly installed speakers which were suppose to be better and more expensive, sounded worse than your old speakers.
Your mind starts to race, is it because my car interior is different, or is it because the new speakers are faulty. Don’t be alarmed, as more likely you need to break in your new car speakers so that you can hear their full potential. So how to break in car speakers and why you should do it. Let’s start with the why first.
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Why break in new car speakers
There are a few moving parts (speaker drivers) in a car speaker, but brand new speakers never really moved before. As so you would imagine these moving parts will be stiff and rigid, won’t be at their 100% operating parameters. It also won’t be as dynamic as car speakers that have been break in before, less flexible so to speak. It may be a tad disappointing and a downer to not be able to enjoy your new car speakers immediately but all good things take time. Fortunately, it doesn’t take long for the initial break in to happen, usually takes about 10 hours after which you will start hearing the improvements. You must be wondering what do I meant by 10 hours and I am going to explain to you now.
Method to break in new car speakers
Now all of us have an understanding of why we need to break in new car speakers. The new question is how are we going to do it. The method is very simple and easy, you just play music as you drive. The more dynamic in range the music is the better, music that has the low end, mid-range, and high frequencies. With such range, it will push your new car speakers to move all drivers. Now, how about the volume of music, do you need to play the music loud? For the volume, you can just play it as normal or the level you usually use. Playing it louder may quicken the break in process but don’t play so loud that you will clip the amplifier.
The initial break in period will require about 10 hours of music playing, and after that, you can already hear the improvements. Give it another 100 hours or so, and the break in of new car speakers will be complete. There is a possibility that it may take longer than that, just be patient and keep listening to music inside your car as you normally would. The little wait is well worth it.
Songs for breaking in speaker
You can also use specific songs to help with the break in of new car speakers, here are just some you can use.
- King Crimson’s Larks Tongue In Aspic
- Mannheim Steamroller’s Tocatta from Fresh Aire 3
- G Major Toccata from Fresh Aire 4
- Peter Gabriel Red Rain
This is entirely optional, to make your break in period more enjoyable, you should always listen to your own songs.
To sum it up
It is incredibly easy to break in your new car speakers and just takes some time. It could be a matter of weeks but if you often travel in your car, that might shorten it to mere days. The whole process is really enjoyable, you listen to your favorite songs and as the speakers start to break in, you will notice slight improvements which makes it more fun to listen to all your favorites than usual. So don’t be disheartened, just be a little patient and more importantly relish the process.
