Breaking in a Barefaced SC

[Reissueplayer]

I got my Super Compact the day before yesterday. Testing it at home was inspiring. I liked the transients, the punch and the fact that it still retained some character in the midrange. Last night I brought it to a three piece rehearsal. It was plenty loud, but somewhat harsh when pushed. I'd say it farted, but not in the lows, just an unpleasant upper mids/highs edginess. It made me think I should have brought a bass with flats.

How have your experiences been with BF speakers? How long before they settle?

Overall though, I completely understand the widespread high esteem for Barefaced speakers. Love it to bits and how it feels to play.

Edited June 9, 2016 by Reissueplayer

[discreet]

This from Barefaced website:

[color=#333333][size=3]When a high performance pro-audio woofer is fresh out of the box its suspension is very stiff. This means that the woofer is over-damped in the low frequencies compared to its design parameters, resulting in thinner bass response and lower efficiency. It also means that the woofer is under-damped in the mid and high frequencies, resulting in worse control of the higher frequency break-up modes and thus a harsher sound. During the first few hours of high SPL use the suspension loosens up and settles into its long-term design parameters. [/size][/color][color=#333333][size=3]The simplest way to break in your woofers in is to play bass through it - the louder the gig or rehearsal, the quicker the woofers will loosen up. [/size][/color]

My own experience is that you will notice more bottom end and less mid/high-harshness over time.

Edited June 9, 2016 by discreet

[alexclaber]

That sounds more like your amp was running out of power than the speaker itself struggling. The amp will have an easier ride once the speaker is fully loosened up, which may make the critical difference. Glad you like it otherwise!

[Guest bassman7755]

[quote name='Reissueplayer' timestamp='1465495345' post='3068801']
an unpleasant upper mids/highs edginess.
[/quote]

... which is what tends to happen when you push a solid state amp too hard, so I think alex's theory is worth consideration. What amp do you have ?.

[Conan]

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1465502895' post='3068882'] What amp do you have ?.
[/quote]

And what bass? If it is active, are the batteries fresh?

[Reissueplayer]

Thank you for the replies. I have now used it at rehearsal a few more times and it has softened to the point where I'd say it is more of a difference in treble response.

To answer your questions, the amp was a Tecamp Puma 900. It's unlikely that would come up short in power. I may have pushed it hard in the front end, perhaps to the point of running out of headroom with an active bass.

But, If anyone experiences the same thing, give it 2-3 hours of playing time and things will start to change.

[GregBass]

When I moved to Barefaced, I found that I had to completely revise my eq settings. Try setting everything flat on the amp, then turn up to gig volume and adjust to get your sound. It took me a few weeks, but now the sound of my rig is awesome - way superior to any speaker rig I have used before.