Interconnect Break In?

Ozzy - Thank you.

Jason - I agree that cleaning contacts periodically is helpful, so thank you too. I suspect that there are some early changes that happen based on what I hear and then eventual oxidation.

Willy- Yes, ears / brain definitely adjust to the new sound, particularly when a new component brings more detailer or richer sound. It’ll sometimes take me some hours to be able to process all of it. Yet I’ve also heard dramatic differences after 50 or 100 or more hours with power cords, interconnects, speaker cables, cartridges (where once the bass dropped out before returning after playing 20 hours or so later) and equipment sounds that I’ll say that’s part of it too. Thank you.

"Wire does not "break in". If it did it would have been observed during the first widespread use of wire for communication - the telegraph era of the 1830's"

Somehow, I doubt that the telegraph operators would have paid much attention to the amount of PRAT in their dots and dashes.

Just because a certain someone can't hear something, is no reason to assert that nobody else can either.

Your preamp doesn’t need to be on. But the CD player or streamer should be on and playing to pass the signal thru the cables. Usually between 100-200hrs for the cables to settle. Use a streamer instead of spinning discs 24/7 to avoid unnecessary wear on your transport. 

@audphile1 Pick a number out of a hat, eh!

I also think it's your ears and brain that are "breaking in " when you make a change