How to Break in a New Subwoofer
The Importance of Breaking in Your Subwoofer
So, you’ve just installed a new subwoofer to help improve the bass and overall sound quality of your car’s audio system and are excited to crank up the volume and blast your favourite songs. But before you can get it fully up and running, there needs to be a breaking in period first.
Now, you might be wondering, what does it mean to break in a subwoofer and how do you even do this?
To help give you a better understanding of the importance of breaking in a subwoofer, we’ll explain what exactly this means, why it should be done, and how to do it.
Intro to Subwoofers
A subwoofer is a low-frequency loudspeaker designed specifically for delivering the lower frequencies (bass) that a traditional audio system can’t reproduce.
They’re a popular add-on to many car audio systems and can come in a variety of sizes and shapes. However, the most common type of subwoofer is an unpowered component subwoofer.
Read More: BRING THE BASS WITH A CAR SUBWOOFER
What It Does
Subwoofers aren’t just about producing a louder sound, but a stronger bass, so that you not only hear your music better but feel it as well. You can expect most subwoofers to produce bass sounds that are between 60 Hz to 250 Hz.
Bass is a difficult frequency spectrum for your factory stereo to reproduce, which is why having a subwoofer is great for listening to bass-heavy music, but that’s not the only important characteristic.
A subwoofer also helps take away the heavy lifting from your existing speakers that would normally strain while trying to reproduce lower frequencies, improving your overall system. This helps your audio system deliver a more vibrant, full-bodied sound without distortion, even at higher frequencies.
In order to achieve the best possible overall sound, a professionally-installed quality subwoofer system is recommended along with a high-power amplifier and head unit.
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What It Means to Break in a Subwoofer
Like any other piece of equipment or machinery, subwoofers are made from moving parts, and when those parts are brand new, they can feel stiff. This stiffness can make it difficult for the parts to respond fully to the electric current from the amplifier that drives them. This is caused by a particular component called the spider, which acts like a suspension and allows the cone to move back and forth to produce the sound.
Therefore, subwoofers should undergo a break-in process in order to achieve the best possible sound. Think of it like waking up in the morning and taking some time to scroll through your phone and fully wake up before getting out of bed. Fortunately, though, breaking in a subwoofer only needs to be done once, after which, you’ll never need to worry about it again.
The breaking-in process involves playing the subwoofer for a period of time after having it professionally installed in your car. The main benefit of this is to help loosen the unit’s suspension and improve overall performance and bass output. This will also help extend the life of your subwoofer.
Now, what does the breaking-in process actually entail? For starters, the breaking in period takes a bit of time – often a week or more – so having patience is important. During this time, you will notice its performance starting to change and eventually stabilizing.
With that being said, here are the steps that should be followed to properly break in a new subwoofer.
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How to Break-In a Subwoofer
Once your subwoofer is installed and mounted in the proper sized enclosure, and is getting enough power from your amplifier, you are ready to begin the break-in process. Start off by playing some music that has heavy bass at a medium or low volume for around two hours every day for a week, or until you’ve reached 12 hours of playtime.
After this, you can start slowly increasing the volume, but not by too much. Keep carrying out the process every day until your subwoofer’s cone and rubber surround do not feel stiff.
Once you’ve reached this point, you can go ahead and crank up the bass and enjoy your new sound system.
As you can see, breaking in a new subwoofer isn’t really all that complicated. In fact, it’s fairly simple. While the process can take a bit of time that you’d probably rather be spending actually enjoying your new subwoofer, breaking it in is incredibly important and shouldn’t be skipped. Because without this breaking in period, your new subwoofer may not be able to live up to your expectations when it comes to bass output.