:)

Leadfoot
Was the increased low end extension on my Focals all in my head? I honestly don't think so. I hope not. If my perception can make that much of a difference in sound, who knows what else my brain is making up. Am I really here? Do I even have a studio? And are we really even having this conversation? Aww man, I think I feel a flashback coming on...

There is no way to know without tightly-controlled objective measurements. Subjective conclusions must always be suspect because yes, your brain has a greater effect on what and how you hear than any other factor.
 
As for whether you're really here, I can only quote the eminent Dr. Sheldon Cooper: "I know we're not in the Matrix because if we were the food would be better."
 

Hey Guitar4u, thanks for the "helpful" tag... :)
Funny I only seem to get them when I'm not?
 
Well I guess all my stuff is beond burn in period bieng mostly 20 years or older...
All my headphones are held together with black duct tape and silicon.

Break-in, break-in, break-out!
Ooops they're not working anymore.
I still think it is hype and your hearing is what is breaking in to how they sound.
 

Here is an article that explores the issue: http://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/speaker-break-in-fact-or-fiction
 
First the article acknowledges and documents the changes that occur in a couple example speakers as they "break in". There are, in fact, changes that occur.
 
Then it models the resulting differences in performance that the broken in speakers exhibit when placed in the same enclosure. Note: this plot is of the two response curves; before and after.
 

 
This explains to me why speaker manufacturers inform us that their speakers do "break in" yet they don't seem concerned about our responding with questions regarding how "break in" causes deviation from the intended designs.
 
I remain curious about the subject, but I tend to think that, for my personal experiences, the effect of pyschoacoustics over powers anything quantifiable in a fact based domain.
 
best regards,
mike

This subject is also very interesting to me.  I always took for granted a break in period.  If the sonic results are more pyschoacoustics, then our brains must memorize the response it "hears" for the individual.  I wonder how we can actually trust our monitors if the sound is more influenced by the user than the hardware?  Maybe there is some string theory going on hear.

I wonder how we can actually trust our monitors if the sound is more influenced by the user than the hardware?

And that is the path to madness.
 
(I'll let you know where that path leads, as soon as I find out where it ends myself. In the meantime, I'll try to leave a few breadcrumbs.)