[darkmoebius]

I decided to use the FryPro to break in my speakers while doing cables and phono preamp. I've had my Cain & Cain IM-Bens for a couple of years now, but they never really got heavy, continuous, usage at moderate to high volumes. In fact, I'd guess they have less than 400 hours total on them.

I understand that Fostex Sigma drivers can take up to 1000 hours of playing time to truly loosen up the surrounds and have the driver settle in. So, I've got the the speakers facing each other, out of phase, with 4 heavy comforters over them using a Harmon Kardon AV receiver.  I'm letting them play for 4 hours on, a few off, another 4 on, another 4 hours, then off overnight(so i can sleep).

Well, the FryPro waveform is really giving them a surprising workout. You can see the driver cones pumping in and out, except in an extremely controlled, repeatable, manner. I'm keeping the volume fairly low to avoid any potential damage, but the drivers are still getting a good excursion at all rates of speed.

This is just a wild guess, but an hour of FryPro workout has got to be equal to 20 or more of normal music play from the looks of the driver movement. I'll give them a good week or so of break in and then a listen to see if there is a big difference.

One more great use for the FryPro.

[hagtech]

Let me know if this works.  I never had much luck breaking in speaker cones.  For me, super loud drum music seemed to do better.

jh

[darkmoebius]

Well, I don't know how it is working on the voice coil, but it surely is loosening up the surrounds on the driver.

I think my speakers are a little different than most in that they are essentially fullrange single-drivers(Fostex FE-168 Sigma) with only a cap as a LF filter. Mine have optional Fostex T-900A supertweeters that cross in above 10-12k, but they really are not all that necessary.

Regardless, that single driver is definitely getting a thorough mechanical workout. I think Fostex's higher end drivers are know to have fairly rigid surrounds which take an extremely long time to relax. Hope this helps. We'll see in another 5 days or so.