Running In; Care & Maintenance - Audio Note AN-E Owner's Manual

Running-in Period (or Great Expectations)
While we fully expect your AN-E loudspeakers to produce beautiful music, they may
not do so from the first moment out of the box. Don't be alarmed; it's perfectly
normal.
Dynamic loudspeakers have a running in period, during which the drive units "loosen
up" – mainly consisting of the suspension working its way up to full, normal working
compliance. During this period, it may sound somewhat dry, bright and constricted.
That's because the bass unit will not display its full lower bandwidth and the tweeter
will sound slightly brighter than normal at the outset, and to a lessening degree
throughout the running-in period. As the suspension of both drivers "softens up",
the fullness of the bass and the smoothness of the treble will start to emerge and the
sound that has earned the E its enviable reputation will be revealed.
We expect the AN-E to have a running in period of about 100 hours – for the
average listener, this takes about a month, based on three hours of listening per
day. This period can however vary considerably due to factors such as, music
types, listening volume and type of amplification used. (Loud heavy metal or Mahler
symphonies are especially effective!)
If the rest of your system is of commensurate quality, you may notice that when you
haven't played your AN-E's for a week or longer, they seem to experience a lesser
version of this running-in process again. Everything will be completely back to
normal within 5 to 10 hours.
Care and Maintenance of your AN-E loudspeakers
Care should be taken when using the loudspeakers with very high-powered
amplifiers. Although the AN-E is reasonably tolerant and has high power handling, it
is also very efficient and therefore requires considerably less power than other
similarly priced loudspeakers. If audible distortion occurs the amplifier or the
loudspeaker is being overloaded and damage is likely to result.
Should you be unfortunate enough to experience failure of a drive unit, either by
accident or misuse, please ensure that it is replaced with an original Audio Note™
drive unit replacement kit and that the relevant parts of the crossover are also
replaced. This will preserve the extremely tight driver and crossover component
matching established in manufacturing, and thereby maintain the speaker's
performance.
The durable finish of your speakers will maintain its appearance for many years with
minimal attention. Wiping your cabinet down with a damp, lint free cloth is all the
general cleaning that is required. We recommend that you annually wax the
veneered surface of your speakers.
Keep the speakers away from radiators or other heat sources and avoid prolonged
exposure to direct sunlight.
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