Why does unplugging/replugging TT leads from tube phono pre-amp reset dead channel?

I have a BAT VK P-10SE with Superpak.  Tubed phono preamp.  When one of the channels drops out (it actually is out when the system powers up), I used to go nuts trying to figure out which tube needed replacing.  I have learned, after much frustration, that simply unplugging the lead from the Turntable - and plugging it back in - solves the problem.  Sometimes it's the left channel.  Sometimes the right.  And if I leave the system on with no music playing for a while, on occasion a channel will drop out.  I have asked at several stereo shops...no one know why this works.  Or what the real underlying cause of the problem is.  When it works...it sounds great.  No indication of a tube issue.  And the cartridge - Shelter 901 - sounds great, too.  Any advice is welcome.  Thanks.

Joe