Hi guys,

I just finished installing the mtx thunderform what is the proper way to break-in subs, I have heard this is important
Jim

 

Really, you just need to take it easy for a about a week, depending on how much time you spend in your car. Just keep the levels low-mid during that time, afterwards, you can rock all ya want!
A couple things from My experience with them,
they sound good and all but keep in mind they are 8"s and can be over-driven. Keep a sharp ear out for that distortion and keep your gains low, especially during that break in time.
What do you have powering them? To get the most out of the subs, you need all the juice they can take, 300 watts RMS total (150 ea) An MTX 6500D would do that easially.

Well, have fun and enjoy, I know I did but my new 10"s come in tomorrow!

 

I am driving the mtx with a RF punch 600.4 I use 2 channels bridged. It specs out at 300w rms

jim

 

That advice conflicts with what an installer buddy of mine told me. He takes new subs and hooks them up to a tone generator overnight prior to installing them into a vehicle. It's a device that hooks directly in line with the amp and the sub. He can set it to whatever frequency he wants, and adjusts the gain up from the amp. This keeps the sub in a constant peak, or vibration. The sub itself will loosen up over time, and start to provide better frequency response. This tone generator speeds up the amount of time it will take the sub to "break in". We generally don't listen to music at a relatively loud volume for hours at a time. The generator takes the place of this, and breaks in the sub for us.

So, to answer your question, you don't have to take it easy and get it used to anything. This will actually cause your system to take longer to reach it's potential. Start it up, crank it up, and let it sit for a while. You should begin to notice a better response from your sub after approximately 8 - 10 hours of "break in". If you do this several times, it'll be "broken in" in no time.

Good Luck,
JB

 

With a sub like a DD, or other heavy duty 60 lbs. beast, you'll want to play the sub at about 30 Hz. or less free-air for several hours. (8-12) With a more common sub like a JL or Kicker, etc., you'll want to do this too, but only for a short amount of time...maybe 30 mins. / 1 Hr. Especially if it's going to go to waste in a sealed box. See, the DD's, RE's, etc. take years to break in because of their spider material and overbuild, but JL's, even the W3's only take a week or so to fully break in. After that, mine started to bottom out easily w/o the use of a subsonic filter.

...but I'd definately break them in a little.

BTW, I'm not knocking your buddy, but I wouldn't run a mainstream sub overnight at all. Overkill and may not properly keep cool. Just causes undue wear & tear so they'll need replacing earlier, IMO. Maybe that's why some shops do it.

-AR