How I break in a speaker
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- Опубліковано 18 сер 2016
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The neighbors are like "WTF, that dude plays the exact same thing NON STOP"!
Haha, yes. Waiting with a shotgun in front of your house after 10 hours of suffering from some kind of Curt Cobain riff! LMAO
@@hjplant9292 yikes is for tikes
For 8 hours. Without stopping for a second
Legend has it the amp is still playing with itself...
...formed a band, got famous, married another amp and had 5 amp IRs, then moved to Alaska...
I heard the amp got hooked on drugs and fought with everyone and was kicked out
Moved to Alaska,went on a hike and was never heard from again! 2 people a week disappear in Alaska every week
I heard the amp was caught on “The Lolita Express” going to Jeffrey Epstein orgy Island.it spent the night with Bill Clinton
I would watch that movie.
Pinkman?
Speaker cones are made of very rigid materials that soften and become more flexible over time. Break in is a true real life phenomena. Good work.
How to piss off your neighbors for 8 hrs a day lol
The amount of stuff I've learnt since I started watching UA-cam is amazing. Stuff I would never even have thought of. Thank you.
What a knee slappingly great tip
Literally the greatest concept ever. A house full of guitar sound, no one home. And a hotone being s significant contributor.
Good video. Phillip is right. It is real and it improves the tone. I remember loving my amp through an old Celestion from the 80s with many hours on. The main difference between playing through the old speaker compared to the new speaker was subtle but very evident. The old one compressed more easily and responded better. More in sync with the amp and your playing. The stock sounds lazy and reticent to make a sound, if that makes any sense. Three things to consider: 1) the speaker has to be pushed. Running it at low volume is pointless. It has to be loud but not rubbing. Find the sweet spot and leave it. 2) This process takes some time. 30 hours is the bare minimum. I find that it makes the most effect after about 100 hours. 3) Do not overpower or overheat the speaker. 60 to 70% of the speaker wattage rating is a good rule of thumb. Check the magnet's temperature. If it's really hot, stop the process at once and let the speaker cool down. This will take some time (just as it took some time to heat up). If you do not give the speaker a breather to cool down every now and again you run the risk of melting the wire insulation, shorting the coil. A bad coil means a recone (ie. expensive, laborious and often a change in the tone) or a brand new speaker (probably even more expensive) . Breaking in the speaker is a labour of love but well worth it. Enjoy!
Thanks Phillip, It's great to hear you talk about "Breaking in Speakers" it really does make a difference. I was first told about it by a Senheizer rep who said ideally 80 hrs for their headphones, any loud speaker, to loosen the cones, to get better bottom end, also prevents any damage at max levels, an iPod works really well.
Thanks for the new tip on breaking in speakers. Never thought of using a looper. As always your videos are informative and fun!
Thanks Phil, the gift that keeps on giving...
The best thing Ihave found is to plug a CD player into the front of your amp and play VAN HALEN I all the way thru and then repeat and repeat and REPEAT for at least a week, I put a small fan blowing on the tubes so it will not overheat for that time period and I also put a pillow in front of the grill cloth and press it up against the wall. Works perfectly! Good luck gang!
This video screams for a before and after break-in comparison. But using studio grade sound (at least not camera grade). Excellent video as always!
I just play it, time will do it.
FalconerPhoto
Smart or impatient?
I know, but do you?
;)
(Even at your timeframe that’s only a few weeks of playing anyways.)
I’d usually agree but some new speakers are way piercing and lack any bass until broken in
@@CP-mt1st
Yeah, and that’s why play time is essential. Crank the bass and play. In a couple of weeks they’ll be fine.
@@Wolf_K Even with it cranked, there wasn’t much bass... must be a weird thing with evm12l’s. Wasn’t too enjoyable to play until broken in. Hadn’t seen this before getting this speaker or I would totally agree with you
Got an impedance transformer and played some music through the amp for a few hours last night. It was a little better after that.
someone was asking about a small tube amp.... my first-ever tube amp just arrived today I got the Egnater tweaker 15 watt w matching cab w12inch celestion 30 watt speaker the speaker's not broken yet but I am extremely happy I got it . Its like night and day to every other solid-state amp I've had.Almost got a Panama 5watt conqueror it was priced nice but for a little more I am blown away ..can't stop playin'
Good tip... Yes, it does make a huge difference. When WGS was a younger company, you could get them to break one in for you. They used a tone generator and ran it for 24 hours.. Basically the same thing you do. I like your way... Nice job
I do something very similar. I do a lot of recording. I play all of the instruments & I record with a Tascam digital recorder & a HP Server that I setup specifically to do recording with multi-track recording software. I take a prerecorded guitar track, put the playback in loop mode & send it from the mixing board into an amp connected to the speakers that I want to break in. I did this recently with a set of Celestion Rocket 50s which everyone says, sound like crap. Admittedly, new out of the box, they sound pretty bad but, once broken in, they sound pretty good. Huge difference in sonic & tonal quality after they were broke in. Love your vids. Keep up the good work.
Agree. I always break in new speakers and it always makes a difference - from noticeable to dramatic depending on the speaker brand, model, etc. Downloaded a waveform generator from the net, created some sounds (60Hz, 80Hz, some combined frequencies and waveforms etc.) One even sounds a bit like a UFO. Burned an audio CD, put it thru the stereo in the back shed for two or three days continuously, low to moderate volume depending on the power handling. Sweeter sound every time.
It def helps to break it in.. before I knew anything I returned a couple of amps to stores saying "there is something wrong with this amp! 😂 I usually just run a play list through it of my guitar heroes
for 12 hours a day and in 3 days the magic begins to happen. I had a cream back that went from shrill to butter.. Def helps some speakers more then others but all new ones seem to benefit.
your videos are top shelf and a education to me , thank you
Great video! Thanks Phil.
"If it sounds good it is good." Best thing I've heard on youtube in years. Right on, Phil.
People do not use their god given ears anymore. Do it, folks. Your ears are your best tool.
Great advice, Phillip. I have also used my mp3 player library with repeat to get various tones, volumes and frequencies going. I had some classical music in my library.
Not sure whether you have tried Weber speakers or heard of them. Their fidelity and tone combination is second to none, IMO. However, their fidelity is not for everyone. Hiding in the mush of other speakers is preferred by some, if not many. Also, I like the musicality of hemp cones and Weber offers some good speakers with those cones.
Thanks for what you do. You are a great asset and service to musicians.
This is why I like to buy stuff second hand - preferably stuff that's been gigged hard!
Thank you Phillip
A small SS amp and a looper is pretty ingenious for breaking in a speaker. I just ordered a 15w amp with a 70/80 and it takes a while to break in a 80 watt speaker in a 15 watt amp so I might try this myself. The 70/80 gets a bad rap, I think they’re a decent speaker once broken in but they really need break in to sound okay.
Monoprice 15w amp? Haha I just got one of those
Great tip with breaking in the amplifier. I'll give it a shot and see if it works.
20 hours of pink noise at over half volume if you can get away with it
Thats what i was told to do!!
you have the best channel in the world.
Just so you know, I've been using my ears most of my life too. :)
You know, I'm something of a listener myself haha
Pretty cool! I use a tone generator with a sweep loop from 50Hz to 6Khz up and back. In 4 hours you can tell the difference.
I think I like the way speakers sound brand new... they tend to be really punchy without being woofy on the low end. I like how they sound broken in too... that is simply why I personally believe this is a waste of time, unless you are simply unhappy with the unit you bought and cannot return or exchange it.
Not a waste of time if you don't like the way a speaker sounds brand new, which is often harsh and shrill on the high end, boxy in the mids, and a bit stiff on the bottom end, (like pretty much every now guitar speaker I've ever bought). After a good break in period the highs smooth out and not only becomes "smoother" and more listenable, but gains more "glassiness" as well with guitars like strats; the mids develop more detail; and the bottom drops down noticeably. In some speakers the difference is remarkable.
In high-end audio speakers, the difference is night and day. With guitar speakers, it can mean the different between rejecting them and sending them back as being "harsh" and "shrill", or keeping them because they're "buttery smooth" and "let every nuance come through".
It's definitely worth taking the time to do for most people when dealing with speakers right out of the box. 24 hours minimum break-in time.
With some high-end speakers, you can still hear them getting better, with more details coming through in the mids in particular after a solid week of break-in time (or longer).
"If I hear it then it's real" love that!
Thank you another Great Video!
Great video and great advice :) Thanks
Great tip!
I like the looper idea and think it would be ideal because it is more of a guitar source but since I don't have one I would just use an MP3 player or stereo signal.
When i broke in my brand new Marshall 1960A Lead 4X12 my neighbors were all quite well aware of it. I used my Bugera Trirec, a fabulous inexpensive 3 channel tone monster that absolutely slays. Even with the cheap ass Chinese tubes that are in it still.
Hey Phil. Thanks for the good vid. What do you think about playing a bass guitar through a guitar amp at low volumes obviously so as not to destroy the speaker? Would it speed up the process? Also, off topic a bit, a guy told my to place an acoustic guitar in front of a bass guitar amp and play the bass to speed up the process of opening up the acoustic and make it sound like it would after 20 years of aging. What do ya think about that?
I hear the deference before and after breakin'. This also works with the headphones or hifi speakers. I give a little advice: you can remove speaker from the cabinet or combo, this provides much less noice from the speaker.
Thanks
Great video man
hay Philip great tip, I've done that in the past an heard other people do it, it works, My question is the new Marshall amp code 50 are they as accurate to tube amps like people claim, can you do a demo an give your opinion.
Wow learn something new everyday thnx i'll try that next time i buy an amp
works for any speaker including headphones
Not sure if anyone's mentioned this in the comments, but you can download tone generators and just play them through your iPod or something. Like you say, you want the speaker moving back and forth and you can download nearly silent tones for that:-)
Tell us older folk more about this so called "silent tone"
+hadley101 I guess it are hot impulses only on deep frequence that moves the membran
The quote "If is sounds good, it is good" comes from studio engineer Joe Meek.
Thanks for this Phil, I just bought a new amp and 2x12 cab and have heard about breaking in speakers, so in my wisdom I figured well I would achieve that if I just played through them, however... about 15 minutes in and playing really loud, I had a thought... would I damage the speaker at all if I played too loud too quickly?? I noticed a caution on the celestion site when I went looking but they didnt elaborate on the caution... and "technically" I did play on half volume for a "few" minutes before I cranked it up to 11 :) would I have broken my speakers? :(
I think you have a good idea!
You work with what you got
Do you think you can do a vid about guitar strings and how to maintain them?
I found even on a second hand MG15 it was still factory stiff, so I disconnected the speaker from the amp and used an SMSL amp and blasted some house music through it (luckily I live detached so unless I'm running my subwoofers loud at night the neighbours don't care). I found the point at which the bass started to sound "forced" and backed it off, but found I could turn up louder and louder after the first hour and it was producing bass better (as well as an open back 8" speaker can). I do prefer recorded music though because I can get something consistent that I know isn't going to be quiet one minute and then wreck the speaker the next.
Great video, but would it make any difference to a Peavey Backstage II which boasts 10 solid state watts and sports a 6.5 custom speaker? You can note the sarcasm, but I love this little amp with a Zoom G1 Four pedal for great tones.
I'd like to hear before and after (blind test) audio samples...but that's just me...I always like to try to remove my personal bias when determining if something actually sounds better or not.
Speakers always sound better broken in
What would happen if you try to break in your guitar amp, just like the way you demonstrated on the video, using a bass guitar instead? Would it make it faster or would it just ruin the speaker completely?
Do you do the same thing to acoustic guitars - set them in front of an amp for hours?
So how are you liking that Gold Top that you picked up recently?
I saw your video on buying direct through Fender (c. 2014 or 2015). You posed the question: Why buy direct? I purchased some of the latest Dlx Strat Plus cards directly through Fender because no music store I had been in new about them or would have to order them. Actually, on the whole, the Dlx Plus was a poorly marketed guitar to begin with.
Part of why I bought my Mesa Lonestar 2x12 used is to skip that break in period
Fun video
Do the same rules apply for breaking in a sound-bar with subwoofer?
I have had a fender excelsior for many years with the stock speaker (not the upgraded speaker everyone recommended) the amp sounds okay at lower volumes. Anyway, i have never liked the tone at higher volume, very harsh even brittle. My question is, since i have never played through it much, does it need breaking in? if so will it sound mellower?
Bought one of the Hotone heads (Mojo Diamond) for exactly this purpose, stupidly not thinking I live in an apartment. It’s only 5 watts, but this thing is pretty loud at Phil’s settings here. So in the end, I pissed off my neighbours for 3 days breaking in an Eminence 12 inch Lil Texas speaker. As an aside, I now take it to rehearsals as it’s a good way to make sure your drummer doesn’t play too loud. Be a good backup for small gigs too if a valve blows or amp fails. They sound really good for what they are and price point.
Wow, I didn't realize you had your own YT channel! Your store is just down the road from me here in Chandler
To kill most of the volume while breaking in a speaker, plug a second cabinet in using a cross-over cable so the phase is reversed, and place the two cabinets face to face a few centimetres apart. As the driver in the first cabinet pushes forward, the driver in the second cabinet pulls backwards, absorbing most of the sound. This will work better with closed back cabs, and the closer the match between the two cabs the better. Throwing a heavy blanket over the pair of cabs will also help.
I've done this with a pair of hi-fi speakers and there was almost no sound escaping.
I have a question. Pretty sure I destroyed a Peavey Bandit 112 amp a few years ago by doing something that sounded amazing to me for bedroom playing, but I am pretty sure it was the wrong answer. I set a cheap zoom multi-effects pedal to a country clean tone with a Hall reverb setting and plugged it into the effects loop on the amp. In clean channel it sounded normal, but in crunch channel it made the thing scream like it was coming through a huge cabinet rack in a stadium. While I was playing one day, there was a weird sound like a spring would make (boioioioioioiing) and the effects loop never worked again. The question I have is: was this the wrong way to connect causing the break, or was the effects loop just crappy and broke on its own?
But I have a new Fender 68 Princeton Reverb..I'll have to leave it on all day? How else would would it effect the speaker?
It was Duke Ellington already, who said "If it sounds good, it is good",
and it is very cool of Pete Thorn to say it again, 'cause it is the simple truth in music!
;)
It be good to hear a before and after video.
I plugged in my new amp when it was already on and it made loud crackles noises for about 5 seconds… i think the speaker sounds a bit more quiet now. Not really sure tho. Does this damage an amp?
I did this 40+ yrs ago, my Dad pulled the fuse to my room, and couldn't figure out why I didn't run out freaking ?!
I was at a RUSH concert - Maple Leaf Gardens
Hey Phil. Love your stuff. Any plants on doing a video on a Squier/Fender Jaguar? I'm not a fan of surf but that seems to be the majority of the content available out there on them. They've just always appealed to me. It seems like my options at the moment are between getting a Squier and modding it (sort of like what you did with your strat), getting the Classic Player Jaguar (It's a little too much of a departure from the original specs), sourcing a CIJ, or just dropping some serious cash on an AVRI or original.
A before and after clip would've been great, like side by side comparison.
so i guess its similar to aging an acoustic guitar, the wood gets a more warm/round sound?
Hey Phillip I just got a marshall 4x12 with celestion mg series g12-412mg and I want to know are these speakers good for modern metal like metalcore? And I will try to break them in more I know the guy I got the Marshall from said the guy who had it played it live a lot so are they already broken in?. Thanks and love the video's
If the guy you bought it from "played it live a lot", then yeah, those speakers are guaranteed to be broken in already.
I break in headphones a similar way. Plug them into a music player, feed them a somewhat dynamic song, looped, for a few hours for two or three days. It takes out any harshness.
I was just thinking, if you want to minimise noise for neighbours you could wire the speakers out of phase and pass in a sinewave to get destructive interference and cancel each other out, or even a separate sinewave to each speaker (I'm about to break in a 2x12) and tweak it to get maximum cancellation. Won't be perfect but would be great to knock off a few dB
Does certain brands or model breakin longer?
Living in an apartment blows , I’d never get away with doing this. My amp speakers won’t be broken in till long after I’m gone. I’ll be sure to leave a note with a link to this video for the future owners lol.
Phil, what do you do if you don't have one of those types of SS amps? I just got a Deluxe Reverb and I'd like to break in the speaker. My only other amp is a Mustang III, is there a way to use that (thinking with a looper or an Ipod on the aux in possibly?)
willj1365 the mustang 3 is solid state so idk why it would not be the same exact deal.......
Vic Soboleski thank you, I’ll give it a shot!
I’m just gonna plug my laptop into my rumble and play my Spotify playlist
I got a “little imp” impedance transformer and just play music through my amp from my phone. I’d go crazy hearing a loop for three days
I just bought a fender super champ x2 and matching 1 x 12 cab. The speaker sounds like crap unless it's clean and quite. I'll try breaking it in. I was already shopping for a replacemant speaker. BTW do I need to break in the tubes in the amp also?
yes. there is also s break-in period for tubes. 48 hours for preamp tubes to fully "blossom", though if memory serves correct the power tubes only require 24 hours or so to fully break in.
Is leaving the amp on all day safe while I'm slaving away for 10 hours at work?
That's why he puts it through the hotone. It's solid state, so it won't get hot.
Hi Philip, what small valve amp would you recommend to use with a Zoom GX1on pedal?
get a small tube amp,then throw the zoom out or sell it.
some usually cheap tube amps are peavy valve king,peavy xxx and others in the peavy line.
bugera are another brand that is usually very cheap but still good.(honestly,the zoom sounds pretty bad,sorry)
get individual pedals if you are seeking good tone.
What volume you use?
Hi Phillip, thanks for the informative video! I was today years old when I found out you need to break in speakers. I do have a question though, if the sound is so much better broken in, why don't manufacturers do this at the factory? Or is the idea to have amps that "will sound better with time" vs straight from the box?
I'm not nearly as knowledgeable as the know you're gear guy by any means!! but I think this is such a long process they just don't worry about it. 30-40 hours is a great start but reading so many things and different opinions speakers can take 100 hours to years! So I'm getting the impression they are constantly be broken in and just get better and better sounding with the more use like an acoustic guitar gets better with it's a aging wood. From what I believed to be from celestion they said just an hour with open chords and your mids and Low's all the way up with highs halfway for starting place for breaking in and sounding good. But absolutely everyone else says way longer than that or thinks it's myth. It's not a myth. Like most cars can reach a hundred mile an hour but why? There's nowhere in America you can go that fast. It's because you need that power to get up and going quickly and not have to make sure there's no car for a mile before you pull out onto a highway. Kind of same idea. If they made the speakers at a worm strength they'd just blow and break. They've got to be able to handle something quiet and then a crazy loud peak and then something quiet again. Sorry I really blabbed on I hope I made some sense
@@dannyrivers3922 Thank you! That made sense to me!
I never heard of this b4 !!!!!!
What do you think of the Bugera tube amps I'm thinking about getting the infinium v55
I will answer on this weeks QA video
hey buddy, thanks for actually making a video for this!
I call them Hotone, had no idea it was supposed to be hot-tone. I've only ever broke in headphones, but didn't do it for my amp. I live in a flat though - surrounded by neighbours.
Principle: I call them what's written. Ho-tone. There's this computer motherboard manufacturer called Asus who insists on being called Ay-soose but it's clearly written to be pronounced as Ay-suss and if they don't like me calling it what it is then they can get about 30 meters of running distance and jump right off a bridge!
dern right it makes a diff. the dsl40 stock speaker was very shrill and un musical. now its awesome. but maybe its the components that broke in but i doubt it. i even notice difference in my old woofer systems in my truck after being broke in. imo the speaker.
Hey Phil what's that lick you played with the muting
Can you please do a video on amp attenuators and how they work and the differences between a good and bad ones?
they all suck....what you really need is a vvr circuit in the amp to scale the wattage down to about 1/2 watt for sane sound levels at home. Even 5 watt amps can blow your ears out at home.
Mate I’m from Australia, I’m ex Army on DVA pension and due to disabilities which range. But guitars, amps tubes pedal. Not only just the love to but to play and sometimes fix and mix. But your channel plus I found you on podcast. I find you honest and straight up. Which do to I can’t afford much on my pension can go out much. So music guitar playing is my Escape. I’m hoping to one day own a nice Gibson 59 custom or a custom Fender Strat. I know sounds boring. But Last Fender I could afford was my 2005 Standard USA. But I love a USA new Pro Strat as I’m a fussy old bugger and pots wires and caps quality is. Big thing so with the few tube amps I have. Just to get that one more for my tiny but select collection be unreal. But In 🇦🇺 the $$ even a Mexican Strat basic set u $2200 easy. But ptsd and not being able to work I guess no custom shop anything and a good USA with rosewood fret and good wood. Looks like since they hit pricing up on guitars here. I’m stuck as no point getting a Guitar that is not the stuff I want as extra parts just send it right up. So a les Paul Gibson of a new or good Fender USA is going to be a dream that doesn’t. Come as getting older and you don’t get overtime or a good month on a pension. But love your stuff mate. One day a dream might happen and a nice tube amp and a Guitar with a nice pedal will magically appear. Lmao 😂 yeah just like going to war and not getting shot at. It ain’t going to happen to this black duck. But love your style and no bull
shit approach. Thanks 🇦🇺
I don't know which shops you're looking at, but $2200 AUD for a Mexico Strat is daylight robbery. I recently picked up a brand new mex tele from a store for $890 AUD.
What's that song you played at 2:07 ? :)
what if you don't have that SS amp?
that sounds about right.. 5W amp dimed with bass on max.. for a total of 30 hours with a lot of chug on low notes.. that should break in most speakers.. I have a eminence legend GB128 and have 5 hours playing on it ,though with more watts through it (20-25 watts would be my Guess),, It is starting to sound different. Less mids, more highs and deeper bottom.
I call it Ho-Tone too!
Is it a bad idea to burn in the cab with a tube head? I mean, can it damage the amp in some way? I mean can they get over heated after a while?
No, the tubes won't overheat. They won't get any hotter than if you were playing through the amp. I've burned in speakers and other high-end audio components using power amps with tubes many times, and it works just fine. Heck, even tubes require break-in time (48 hours for preamp tubes, and 24 hours, if memory serves correct, for power tubes, during which the bottom drops lower, the highs get smoother, and the mids get more detail). Given the choice between the two, you'd want to use a solid-state amp though, just so you're not using up tube life unnecessarily. But you can definitely use a tube amp for break-in. No problem at all.
The way I broke in my speaker I turn down my highs turn up my bass in my meds to full blast and I put my volume on 7 went outside and hit the string and vibrate the whole neighborhood LOL and this a 4-ohm amp so you know it was loud LOL. Did that for 15 minutes a day for a week.
Again ,, your the best,,, the only thing is I'm just not sure on the gadgets your using ,, Yes I know what a looper is ,, but the other thing, you born through that a little fast,, that's my bad for not knowing