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Do speakers have to "warm-up" too?

i warm up my amplifiers for 30 minutes before listening (everything else is on "standby" all the time), but i strongly feel that
the (first) cd i have on sounds (much) better (fuller, more open sounding) towards the end than it did at the start. i get this impression time after time. my speakers are broken in of course, but (perhaps) they become more compliant, or the voice coils warm up (?) i'm not an engineer, but it makes sense that speakers reach a sort of "equilibrium" after playing music for a given period of time. otoh, of course, my ears could be "adjusting" to the sound, and/or the effect could be largely psychological. does anyone else have this experience or feel the same way i do?
french_fries
tgrisham
1,291 posts
 
Audioholics did an interesting piece on measuring cone movements and frequency responses with and without break in.

http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/audioprinciples/loudspeakers/SpeakerBreakIn.php

Their conclusion: no difference. But, it still comes down to the "objectivists vs. the subjectivists" argument. Your ears and brain are the only important criteria.
hpims
129 posts
 
It's all in your head.... er, I mean ears.

As you get into the music, it sounds better.
stevecham
3,340 posts
 
Hpims got it...

It's the ears, inner ear components and most importantly, the synapses that connect our neuronal networks, that "warm up."
lakefrontroad
302 posts
 
My system overall needs about eight hours to fully open up.

It's easy to know, it always sounds thin, closed and clouded when first started and the next morning is wide open when I leave in on overnight.

The speakers have two internal digital amps each. And when I turn them off and restart them, there is a noticable choking of the sound. It generally takes a few hours to return to the prior sound.

So, I leave the system on fulltime except during electrical storms.
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