My experience is yes, they do. It's not always Digital Signal Processing, but most integrated OEM head units have some sort of equalization built-in. For instance, the bass may roll off as you turn up the volume, since the paper woofers can't take it. The treble may be boosted because of the lack of tweeters. Stuff like that. Hence the invention of the JL Audio Cleansweep, and the Rockford Fosgate 3Sixty, as I referred to above. These devices have a setup process like you mentioned, where they play a known noise track, then un-equalize the output of the head unit (using DSP) so it's flat.

--Dan
Mach V
FastMINI.net

 

Does the CD player in the R56 display ID3 tags (meta data like song & artist info) from MP3 CDs?

I'm driving a R53 loaner right now while waiting for my R56 and that doesn't display this info.

 

I've only used the CD once so far but I do think it does... I'll check it out for you and keep you posted

 

yes it does I just whipped up a mp3 cd and threw it into there (R56)
and it display songs, tracks, artist, etc. although you have to hit a couple buttons to get there, but it does it.

 

Thanks for the info. And do you know if it recognizes different folders and allows you to browse them?

 

you can't judge the hifi system by how it sounds in the showroom. Mine sounded like crap the first few days - nasty distortion when turned TO half volume with any amount of bass - even the mids and highs didn't sound very good. After 3 days or so I noticed it was getting a little better. Now after a week of running in the speakers it sounds as good as the old HK if not better. They really needed to be broke in.

 

I dunno MM. While speakers are mechnical devices, they should not change noticeably over a short period of time. That is just a logical assessment on my part. A good guess, as it were.

If I am to presume you are correct, and I have no reason to doubt you, then I have to assume the quality of the speakers are pretty bad for them to change that much in such a short period of time.

For a speaker to change in the manner you suggest, it would seem the rubber surround of the cone is not very stable as that is the only piece of the speaker which has mechnical contact with the basket and cone, and thus effects the cone motion moreso than any other part of the speaker.

The speaker surround could very well find a sweet spot to operate in and not change for many years. I suppose that is possible. I just have not heard of something like this happening. Does not mean it cannot happen. It just means I am too ignorant to be able to grasp the how's, why's, and/or what's concerning this topic.

 

Two interesting takes on speaker break-in I tend to believe. I'm sure there are others on the other side of the issue.

http://www.audioholics.com/education...act-or-fiction

http://hometheaterhifi.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1555

 

I dunno either, but on high-end home audio forums there is a lot of talk about speakers having a break-in period. It may be urban legend, but it seems to be well established.

 

Sounds odd to me. The B&W folks told me the only thing that home speakers do is acquire thier environment which can lead to alteration of the sound.

They were addressing the cabinets, more than the speakers. The materials in the cabinets do indeed swell and shift based on thermal ranges, humidity,and even barometric pressure changes.

Car speakers are not enclosed in such a manner. However, the paper cones could absorb moisture, which could alter the audio. Maybe that is it. Just a guess.

 

It has been reported that these are paper speakers. If you bend heavy paper a lot, it does loosen up. Sort of like wearing a starched shirt - stiff at first, then loosens up. I could see how that would change the sound.

 

But the paper does not actually bend. At least it better not. The idea with the cone is to make it as rigid as possible to reduce any harmonics in the audio.

 

It bends around the edges. It isn't suspended in air. The edges are attached to the speaker frame.

 

The edges are attached to a rubber (or some other flexible material) surround which is attached to the speaker frame. The rubber surround allows the cone to move in and out as a solid unit.

EDIT: In an ideal speaker design, the surround simply acts like a guide which allows the cone to move in and out freely. Some cheaper speaker designs use the surround to actually prohibit the distance the cone can travel, which induces distortion in the audio.

 

Speaker break-in has been a hotly debated topic on audio websites for a long time. Many audiophiles swear by it.

I'm only reporting my observations - the hifi sounds MUCH better after a week of playing it. It is NOT my ears getting used to terrible distortion. The distortion has gone away.

 

Like I said, I have no reason to doubt what you are saying. I would just like to understand it better. I know speaker break-in is a hot button topic with many audiophiles.

However, I trust the B&W engineers more than I trust my own ears as it pertains to speaker design. And their opinion is centered around the cabinet where the speaker is housed when discussing 'break-in'.

 

yep, I read the links and they kept talking about how the speaker cabinet design would overcome any loosening up in the suround. However, car speaker are practically "free air". So there is a great difference in the dynamics between boxed speakers and car speakers.
It was interesting how the one guy making the op was anti-break-in but then he quoted 4 different manufacturers recommending break-in.

Speaker break-in is supposed to be a big deal in high end headphones also.

 

Im looking forward to the pictures of Out Motoring's install. I am starting to get bids for my system, cant wait to replace the stock stuff!

 

Yes, and then his conclusion was the manufactures recommended break-in to get the buyer hooked on the product.

 

Welp, when I get mine in (damn,..am I supposed to be shaking like this?), I will be able to experience it firsthand. I am still going to replace the speakers in the car, as I know the quality of the factory speakers cannot be up to high end audio speaker standards.

 

If you keep the stock ones in a box they'll probably go on ebay in 20 years for more than the cost of your upgrades. Interested to hear how you feel about the improvements you notice so do a good listen to the stock system with the same CD.

 

I hace a special mix for testing sound systems and intend of recording the stock sound using a Blue Ball microphone. Then record again after I am done. That way I can listen to the differences and actually be able to quantify the differences in the actual audio signal.

FGiven what MM has said, I will probably do a fresh recording new, and then wait a couple of weeks, then record again before ripping the speakers out.

 

If it is all in the housing, why would effect headphones? Are they making high-end headphones with particle board enclosings?

 

because it isn't all in the housing. the break-in isn't for the housing. it's for the cones and especially the surrounds that hold the cone. Also housings aren't all the same for headphones as some are enclosed and some are free air.

 

That's as I thought, but not what I understood Skuzzy to be saying.
Perhaps the confusion comes in my talking about paper when the surround may or may not be paper. These speakers were described as being cheap paper, and I've seen cheap speakers where the cone and surround are both paper.

Anyway, the point I was originally trying to make is that a possible explanation for break-in would be that the surround loosens up (becomes more flexible) with use. I don't know if it does. I would suspect there would be differences in different materials used. As I said earlier, I don't know whether break-in is urban legend, or not.