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Q: I have my own studio and I recently bought a pair of studio monitors.

I’m a bit confused because the manual said to “break in my speakers.”

I thought this must be something manufacturer specific, however, I’ve talked to several other people with different monitors and they all read similar instructions.

Maybe I’ve missed something somewhere along the way, but I’ve never heard of this!

What exactly does it mean to break in a set of speaker, and why is it necessary?

A: Breaking in your speakers simply means loosening up the driver surrounds and evening out the frequency response of the speakers by playing audio through the speakers.

The easiest way to this is to play a CD on repeat through the speakers at a medium- to medium-soft volume for a few days at night.

A broken-in speaker tends to have a slightly softer midrange and slightly more low end.

You can use the speakers at moderate volumes during the breaking-in period, but avoid high volumes until the speakers are fully broken in.

If your monitors are inactive for a month or two, it would be a good idea to go through this procedure again, but it shouldn’t require such a lengthy period of adjustment.

Every set of monitors should be broken in to a degree, but the method may differ from manufacturer to manufacturer, so be sure to check the owner’s manual before doing anything drastic like taking the volume to 11.

As always, we welcome input from the PSW community and would love to know your thoughts on monitor break in. Feel free to let us know in the comments below.

 
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