Interconnect Break In?


I'm wondering about break in on a new interconnect (RCA's). I'm using it from my CD player / Streamer to my preamp. If the CD player is on and streaming but the preamp is off, does the interconnect still break in? 

If this has been answered and you can point me to that I'd appreciate it. I just didn't have any luck searching.

Thanks!

ddrave44

@ozzy I stand corrected. Somehow I thought if the preamp is in standby there will be current flow because some of the circuits are kept alive in the preamp but no. I just measured the interconnects with my integrated and there’s zero magnetic field when it’s in standby. You are correct sir! 

Well, if Ozzy and Audphile1 agree, I'm sold. Thank you for the insights. 

Tent- That sounds like the way to go. With WFH  and weekend listening I get a good 25+ hours/week and the cables already sound good. Thanks.

GB McLeod- Fortunately these aren't Nordosts, so the break in is less excruciating than what your went through.

PHD/GHD/Mark2000/Z-lone - Thank you for sharing your break-in views too. I'd add that all of this does point out the benefits of buying used cords sometimes, but in this case what I wanted wasn't available used.

Awesome thread. Thanks everyone!

A load is needed to complete a circuit for current to travel in the circuit from the source through the load back to the source. No load, no current. No current no electromagnetic fields.

Does a closed circuit exist if the preamp is powered off? I think it depends on the design of the input circuit(s) of the preamp. What type of input switching is used to switch from one input to another? The basic type is a mechanical rotary contact switch. A more complex type of switching is done with relays. With relays what is the state of the contact when the preamp is turned off? Open, Closed?

Here is a schematic wiring diagram of an older Conrad Johnson PV10 preamp. It uses a manual rotary mechanical switch to switch from one source input to another. If the connected source is a CDP and the rotary switch is set to that source input there is a load connected to the CDP output jacks. (CDP connected to preamp using ICs.)

Balance Pot (R27), Volume Pot (R28). Those are in series with (R12) that connects the circuit back to the signal ground of the input jacks. (We have a closed circuit.)

There is also another circuit load depending on where the volume Pot control was set when the preamp was shut off, powered off.

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What if you prefer the sound of non broken-in cables? Do you have to replace all the cables every week or so? I have a few Morrow cables that supposedly take 400 hours or so to break-in, and generally forget about that and completely miss the magic moment when that happens. Damn.

@wolf_garcia when I like the the sound of non broken in cables more, as soon as I think they broke in I reverse them (if it’s RCA) and run them for as many hours as it took to break them in. That restores the cables to the original state.
But this is a tedious process in your case with 400hrs on the Morrow. So every time you do that just flip them every few hours or so…don’t let them break in. 
It’s also very possible that you missed the magic moment the moment you bought the Morrow cables…