Breaking in a new sub?

alex, it would be worth your while to watch that woofer move at resonant frequency, as it does when you break it in (textbook-style).  It's a beautiful sight.    Too late now, but preparation for break in is easier to do when the woofer is still in transit!  Now,the hardest thing to do is to be patient. Remember that while you're easing that beast in with the Philharmonic Orchestra.

Search this forum for breaking in and you'll pull up several recent discussions on this topic. 

If you can make CD's on your computer, you can make a CD with frequency tones.  Use this free (for 14 days) program, create .wav files of any sine wave freq you want.  I used the standard Roxio CD Creator.  And I used the CD that I made to break in my sub at its fs of 22Hz.  It was also useful to help me set the xover settings on the  amp.  http://www.softpile.com/Education/Mathematics/Review_21743_index.html

If you do this, you only have to run the tone to the woofer for about 10 minutes for break-in.  At least it would make you feel a lot more comfortable with giving the new sub the volume you need to when you are adjusting the gains.

I got a wave-generator from my school's physics lab and ran it at about 30Hz or so overnight. There's no special frequency to break it in, just something that gets the suspension moving all the way freely without pushing too much power through it. The purpose of break in is just to soften the parts up and get em ready.\

If you don't play it too hard for the first day or so (or about 5 hours like stevdart said) you'll be good to go. Some people don't even believe that break-in is necessary, but I figure it can't hurt it.