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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
flame
13 posts
 
Oh and the soundstage is very special...
mathiasmingus OP
52 posts
 
My ARC preamp made a big step up in soundstage from Bryston BD26.  I imagine nice ARC amps would round out this system, but so many tubes....and a big price tag to get the effortless power of solid state.  I wonder if there are SS amps that would adjust in the right direction...Halo JC1?  The search for the next tweak goes on......
mathiasmingus OP
52 posts
 
BP26....

mammothguy54's avatar
mammothguy54
934 posts
 
@mathiasmingus  I tried a respectable tube amp on the speakers and though it sounded very sweet, it just didn't deliver the "slam" that I want.  Of course, amps are all very different from one another so I can't speak for what an ARC amp would do or any number of other great tube amps.  The Contour 60i do demand some current to make them come alive and deliver what they are capable of.  I settled on a SS amp that has a softer sonic signature than most.  I bought a Balanced Audio Technology (BAT) VK-255SE.  I also use the very well paired BAT VK-33SE preamp (lovely tube preamp).  It's a wonderful matchup for the Contour 60i.
So the bottom line is, if you are finding the Contour 60i speakers are delivering what you had wanted then at some point make a change in your electronics that will better suit them.  You have the preamp, just get the right amp to address the sonic signature that you desire.  And yes, a very good power cable and signal cables are very important in delivering what any electronics have to offer.
Enjoy the fun ride!
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glissando
35 posts
 
It’s always entertaining to read this type of discussion here. So many adamant opinions. Many of which are completely subjective.

Speaker break in is real, as you’ve discovered.

So nobody has even asked if you ever had the B&W’s serviced. The capacitors in the crossovers of any speaker that age are most likely not close to spec and have skewed which driver is delivering which frequencies. Since this can happen slowly your ears may adjust and you never recognize it.
  
But hey, with nearly 30 years of experience as an audio engineer what would I know.

I’m breaking in new PMC monitors now. The company states 50 hours minimum, but that’s because they partially break them in before shipping. The change in the first 20 hours I’ve had them has been significant.
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