Does EVERY component need break-in?

YES, Leave it on or in stand-by for at least a week before passing judgement.

Unplug your gear for a week, then plug it back in. Thin sounding? Absolutely. Give it several hours, and magically your system sounds just like it did a week ago. I've done this when I've travelled for extended periods of time, and also noticed the same effect when inserting a "new" piece of gear in my system (shipping time is generally over a week). Even used items need time to settle in and perform as expected. This may not be the technical diatribe some would hope for to prove that break-in is necessary but it certainly is easy enough to try for yourself. Unplug everything, wait a week or so, plug it back in. Proof is in the pudding. Jeff

Jeff L. I think that you're referring to "component warmup" vs. breakin phenomenon. Although this is more of a solid state issue, even tubed equipment containing solid state voltage regulators needs to be kept warm. It takes about 30 hours for the regulators to attain thermal stabilization, which is when things seem to sound best at our house. I only power down the rig for lightning storms, or for an extended vacation. I do turn off my amps on very hot days (although wish I didn't have to) because it makes a big difference in the A/C bill