V30 break in time?

[philnz]

Just wondering how many hrs it takes to break in V30's

btw: OS Bogner 2x12 cab

Cheers

 

[glpg80]

with or without a guitar amplifier?

with a guitar amplifier, i broke in a new cabinet in about 4 hours at a sam ash sound room with my 5150 cranked to 5. no-one bitched in the store, and i was purposely trying out cabinets and speakers. i cant say they were fully broken in, but the tone before i started and the tone after i started was a huge difference

without a guitar amplifier, you can use a PA amplifier, put a CD player on repeat - wrap the cabinet in blankets and also lay the cabinet on alot of blankets, and let it play overnight at TV volumes - that loosens them up a good bit. the rest can be done during playing - and will take less than a week if you crank it here and there.

 

[Say Ocean]

What amp are you running into that 2x12? I broke in a 4x12 with a triple rec over the course of a couple weeks IIRC... that was at band volume (above halfway) but I'd give it a little bit. You might want to give warehouse speakers veteran 30s a shot since they're like v30s but without that big midhump. I have warehouse green berets so I can vouch for that company's quality. They're sweet.

 

[philnz]

What amp are you running into that 2x12

An Uber that hardly gets used.
Probably less than 20 hrs of low to medium volume on the cab

Incoming Elmwood M60 should get some decent hrs clocked up on it soon

Need to get out more, & get some gig volume happening

side note: Anyone like the Bogner 2x12 with the M60?

 

[Say Ocean]

What amp are you running into that 2x12

An Uber that hardly gets used.
Probably less than 20 hrs of low to medium volume on the cab

Incoming Elmwood M60 should get some decent hrs clocked up on it soon

Need to get out more, & get some gig volume happening

side note: Anyone like the Bogner 2x12 with the M60?

Yeah imo v30s are rarely going to sound good at low volumes... grainy and overly-midspiked. But once you get them pumping with the right amp... good stuff.

 

[philnz]

Yeah imo v30s are rarely going to sound good at low volumes... grainy and overly-midspiked. But once you get them pumping with the right amp... good stuff.

Perfect description

 

[JakeAC5253]

i cant say they were fully broken in, but the tone before i started and the tone after i started was a huge difference

Because you were deaf?

 

[thiswaythatway]

Best thing i did to a Bogner OS 2x12 was swap 1 V30 out for an H30.

 

[RaceU4her]

i always thought speaker break in was an excuse for not liking a new cab like you thought you should more than anything. ive owned plenty of new cabs and never experienced this magic turn around after a certain time like people say

 

[unsafe]

More likely your ears will break in time...

 

[stephen sawall]

My experience with most speakers is they need to be driven hard for 60~100 hours to really be broken in.
Some as little as 30 hours (not Vintage 30).

There is no way to break in a speaker much faster than that. They may sound a lot better after just a few hours but they are not broken in.

I always mix old speakers with the new ones ..... it just is easier on the ears for me.

With speakers that are new or not been used in some time it is a very good idea to turn on the amp without a guitar plugged in for several minutes to let them warm up a little before you play them. The hum from the amp well do this.
Do not slam them with much volume at all till you play on them for a while. These things well help prevent damaging the speakers.
Just like a car engine or sex.

 

[CaseyCor]

My experience with most speakers is they need to be driven hard for 60~100 hours to really be broken in.
Some as little as 30 hours (not Vintage 30).

y on them for a while. These things well help prevent damaging the speakers.
Just like a car engine or sex.

This is what I've usually come across as well, which is contradictory to most of this thread. Very interesting, indeed.

 

[Mavesicles]

V30's sound pretty bad pre break in.

Tone Doctor on Celestion's website explains how to break them in the the shortest time possible.

 

[stephen sawall]

This is what Dr Decibel said over at Celestion .... for anyone interested.


How do I break in my speakers?

Important Note! Before breaking it in it's advisable to "warm up" the speaker gently for a few minutes with low-level playing or background hum.

Break in a speaker with a fat, clean tone: turn up the power amp volume to full, and control the level with the preamp gain. Use a level that will be quite loud, but not painful in a normal size room.

Have the bass and mid up full, and the treble at least half. On your guitar, use the middle pick up position (if your guitar has more than one pick up) and play for 10-15 minutes using lots of open chords, and chunky percussive playing. This will get the cone moving, and should excite all the cone modes and get everything to settle in nicely. The speaker will continue to mature over the years, but this will get it 95% of the way to tonal perfection in the shortest time.

 

[kayman121]

i always thought speaker break in was an excuse for not liking a new cab like you thought you should more than anything. ive owned plenty of new cabs and never experienced this magic turn around after a certain time like people say

...Do you even know how a speaker works..?

 

[Mavesicles]

I'm going to guess when the speaker is new, it's stiff and therefore limits itself from moving naturally. When it's broken in, it flows naturally, thus producing sound that it's really capable of.

Am I close?

 

[Say Ocean]

i always thought speaker break in was an excuse for not liking a new cab like you thought you should more than anything. ive owned plenty of new cabs and never experienced this magic turn around after a certain time like people say

People tend to exaggerate on the internet. However, I noticed it with my v30s before I had ever even heard of speaker break in anywhere. It was a pretty minor difference, but took out a little bit of the high end and stiffness I wasn't digging.

 

[saxxamafone]

V30's sound pretty bad pre break in.

Tone Doctor on Celestion's website explains how to break them in the the shortest time possible.

+1

I went from an old cab with broken in V30's to a new cab with V30's...new sounded horrible!!

sounds good now after a few years of gigging

 

[Erock]

i always thought speaker break in was an excuse for not liking a new cab like you thought you should more than anything. ive owned plenty of new cabs and never experienced this magic turn around after a certain time like people say

slap a mic in front of the cab when it's new, then again after a few months of heavy use. You might be surprised at the results. I've noticed it more when trying to record clips.

 

[glpg80]

i cant say they were fully broken in, but the tone before i started and the tone after i started was a huge difference

Because you were deaf?

not at all. stay away from the chugging and your ears will be fine