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Okay, How Important Is Speaker Break In? (Dynaudio Contour 60i)

I have been running 25+ year old B&W Matrix 803 S2 speakers in my 2-channel system for about 15 years, and I finally treated myself to new speakers.  Mock me for buying based on research alone, but I got a really good deal and just unpacked my beautiful Dynaudio Contour 60i's.  The Dyn's are not broken in, just starting to play around with different songs, but I am expecting an improvement out of the box, and not getting it.  They are no more revealing, and slightly harder and more jangley in the mids and highs.  The bass is of course much better with the big Dyns, but the B&Ws with the Dyn Sub6 subwoofer I was running were better.  I have very good equipment so it is not a matter of driving bigger speakers (ARC Ref preamp and Bryston 7bSST2 monoblocks).  Unless speakers get A LOT better with break in, I thinking these Dyns may be converted back into cash.   Thoughts? Thanks.
mathiasmingus
jrbirdman333
105 posts
 
I have the Dyn 60i Contours. Right out of the box they were awesome. And with 300 hours of break in time they've gotten a step better. Make sure you get you get them at least 18 inches away from any wall. 
gosta's avatar
gosta
839 posts
 
It’s not about break-in, it’s about finding the right position in your room for the new speakers. Besides, why would the Dyn’s be a major upgrade to your Bowers? 
dep14
333 posts
 
I had a pair of Dynaudio Contour 60's.  Like you, I had a very good deal on them.  Based on demo's of other dynaudio products, slightly lower priced I figured I would love them (as they had to be even better...since they cost more).  I didn't love the lower priced ones, but liked them, and hey... for this price it has to be a bargain!

I will tell you, more than any other speaker I have owned I did feel they broke in.  Dyn says they can measure it.  

I liked them, but never truly loved them.  I felt for a 10k retail speaker - I needed to pretty much love them.

The bass was great, the mids were good, the tweeter was good.  But for me, they always sounded closed in.  I tried adjusting room treatments, upgraded electronics (which I wanted to do anyways).  

But, I never loved those speakers. In fact I liked some much lower priced, used, beat to crap speakers better (they weren't better, but I found myself listening to those more and more).  

Sold the Dyn's, and never regretted it.  They were good, but at 10k retail, I want to LIKE the speaker a lot.  When I demo Dyn's in stores from time to time I still like them (though I haven't demo'd the contours again).  

I do find it interesting how quickly they did a full overhaul of the Contour Series.  But, you have those and don't love them.  

Based on past experience, if I were in your shoes - I would flip them.  Doesn't mean they are bad, just not for you.

fertguy's avatar
fertguy
268 posts
 
I replaced a set of B&W 803s speakers with a pair of Focal Kanta 3s.  Took a while to sort through some music I thought was good but much better sound right out of the box.
abasia
16 posts
 
Break in is important but only in the first few hours; if you don't like the speakers after a day or two, send it back. I purposely tried to gauge this when I bought Special 40s. Significant change in the first minutes, then slightly improvements to the 5th hour, then very little to the 15th hour (which btw is the break in time for BWs according to their manual), then next to nothing in the 50th, 100th, 200th playing hours. 
In your case though, it might be more of your preference of the BW house sound which makes the contour less impressive; haven't heard the matrix but the more modern BWs are slightly boosted up top and below, while the Dyns are dull flat. Do try to see if you can like the Dyn sound as they should be more detailed, albeit less exciting.
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