Okay I have now read through the thread now and the original article about speaker break in.
From the original article there are some things that were observed that are very true. However there are assumptions made that are not at all true and a lot overlooked.
For one, the burn in process on a woofer is two fold. There are mechanical changes and electrical changes.
The mechanical are the easiest to grasp as they can be clearly measured.
Drivers don't burn in, in just a few seconds or minutes though.
A 1 watt signal for a few hours on a completed speaker isn't going to do it either especially if the speaker uses multiple woofers. When lots of woofers are used, like in a line source, they can play to high levels with little power and with little mechanical travel. If you don't move them much then the break in period (mechanically) takes a lot longer.
Still, when a woofer is burned in, the Fs drops. Qts drops. Vas goes up. It physically looses up and the compliance changes. I have measured in many times.
Electrically it changes as well. So do crossover components. Capacitors will go through more changes than anything else and it's all electrical. There is a lot that goes on and much of which is hard to measure. Yes it goes beyond simple inductance, capacitance, and resistance.
The fellows from Audioholics only looked at the mechanical changes.
Will the break in process change the frequency response? No not really. Very little measured response can be seen and the sonic changes that take place have nothing to do with frequency response.
However sonic changes during the break in process can clearly be heard and thousands of people ever year witness this. There are also those that never notice anything. It could be that they do not have the memory retention to do so or to discern apparent differences. It could be that their system simply is not of such quality to allow the differences to be apparent. I do not know and am not belittling those who have not witnessed such changes.
Those that have noticed changes in burn in often include non-audiophiles and inexperienced listeners too. Accounts here from bunky, Weez as well as Phil and myself shows quite a bit of diversity. You don't have to be a golden ear to hear these differences in burn in. Speakers do burn in, so do components, and cables. I don't have to understand it all to witness it either and if you haven't witnessed it yet then maybe one day you will.
