About decade ago I acquired a thirty year old set of Klipschhorns from a good friend of mine. Previously I'd been listening to a small set of Dynaudios, which I liked very much. Upon first listening to the Khorns they sounded harsh to the point that my ears would cringe at certain passages of some of my favorite recordings. However over time the harshness disappeared and I was able to appreciate the dynamics they were capable of. Since the speakers were already well broken in, I attributed the change to my ears. One day I decided to fire up the Dynaudios again, and now they sounded muffled compared to the Klipschs. Same amp, wires, and music. This doesn't mean I don't believe that some physical break in occurs, just that our minds can play tricks. Many years ago a piano tuner advised me, "If you keep playing on an out of tuned piano, over time your ears will adjust to that out of tuneness so that when you play on a properly tuned piano, it will not sound right".
Speaker Break In...? Or listener “Break In”?
Im interested in opinions regarding which has more impact; a speaker changing sound over the first 100-200 hours or a listener becoming more in tune with a certain speakers qualities and characteristics.