Can anyone give me some advice on the break in period of these speakers from new. What do they do, timescale wise ?
At present mine seem very bright almost sibilant and the midband is pretty vacant.

you'll notice some improvement over the first month or two, but only of you play pink noise at stomach bursting volumes. by the end of the year the mid-range will start to squeak like a hammered mouse and you'll find the holy grail of trouser flapping bass. after two years the improved sibilance and plosives will be evident when your eyes fall out into a nearby pot of excema cream.

I see,less of the piss taking, I have already parted with the dosh, so it will be my ass thats squeaking if this midrange don`t start appearing soon ok.
I knew I would get a pretty sensible answer from a kid named spatula

sorry, couldn't resist.

err. don't know anything about royd abbots, but maybe there's a problem upstream or you may have them wired out of phase.

let everyone know what's feeding them and they may be able to help.

incidentally, why will your "ass" (do you mean arse?) start squeaking if the midrange doesn't appear? i think we should know.

Kid,
Wouldn`t yours if you just parted with a few weeks wages. Sorry typo.

I am using a CD5/102/180 Hi-capped, how could they possibly be wired out of phase ?

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I didn't think Royd had made the Abbott for many years. Any pair you might get hold of would presumably have long since been run in!

Perhaps you have found some new-old stock or have they re-introduced the model name?

Regards,
Steve

Steve,
Yes your right,they have been discontinued as off 2001 but I found a pair from a dealer with only 1 hour of play on them and wondering what sound I am going to finish up with. There revelation series then took over.

Marco, sorry for a delayed response.I've had a pair of Abbots for approx 2 years now- they will surprise you still after that time- if I remember correctly, something about their having metal cones,take a long time to burn in.
I think they really kick ass with very powerful amplification;am using them as main speakers for DVD, and they perform very well. Bit old fashioned now and possibly suffer from 'colouration' compared to others,but easy to live with.

Signal, Thanks for the reply I bottled out with these abbotts in the end and took a pair of RR2`s instead which were x demo and well run in.
It is so difficult to know how a speaker is going to perform from new, as the abbotts were way too bright and the bass was not tight enough, I just couldn`t keep playing my music for long periods like this. I do wonder if I have made a mistake ?
If your interested the RR2

Marco
Congratulations on excellent taste I have an identical set up to yours with a set of RR2. Very happy indeed. Bass is certainly tight.
Not quite sure how long it takes for the RR" to 'warm up' as I bought all the Naim gear new at the saem time. Therefore hard to tell which part was improving over time.

Regards
Jeroen

Jereon P
You might find this interesting, I have put the RR2`s on some slabs of marble type material (actually the stuff you buy as a fire hearth,looks like marble, 3/4" thick) slightly bigger than the base of the optional stands and the bass became totally transformed. The difference between standing strictly on spikes on carpet over a normal suspended floor was a real eye opener. Before with these speakers there was a blurring, difficult to put into words, but not a crisp low bass note. Now because of the bass tighting even more so, right up through the whole range has become clearer and more detailed. I am not one for bullshit but I can honestly say that this has made the largest DIFFERENCE to any speaker I have owned. On the down side, they don`t become brighter exactly but warmth is reduced just by everything becoming clearer and cleaner. I think now I am probably hearing the real manufacturers balance of this speaker which whether you like it or not only you can say. I would like to try other materials underneath these, I guess weight/mass but also material construction, is very important, any ideas on a cheap material like this ?

Marco

Thanks for the suggestions. I will give it a go just as soon as I can track down some suitable material.
Another thing I found was that it although the RR2s are reasonably forgiving as far as positioning is concerned (further from/nearer to rear wall; distance apart etc), it certainly took some moving around until I found the position with which I was happy.

Regards
Jeroen

Jeroen, If you ever need any spares for your RR2`s, drive units etc, the only place I know is Phonography LTD, Hants, 01425 461230 where I bought my speakers, they purchased all the old Royd stocks when Joe Ackroyd retired this year.
Paul has extensive knowledge of Royd speakers as he worked on R&D for quite some time as an engineer and has given me a few tips about setting up speakers, fine tuning the bass for specific rooms by plugging ports etc.
I would be interested if you have done any mods on your system to improve things as it is exactly the same as mine, interconnects etc ?