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Interconnects Roller Coaster Ride

I purchased a pair of Morrow MA-1 interconnects, burned them in 24/7 for 500 hours. At present, I'm at about 550 hours. Each night I now listened to my system for about three hours. For two straight nights, the sound is gorgeous with the Morrows. Then the third night things sound bad. This pattern has repeated itself twice now. My assumption was that once the interconnects have been fully burned in, they will stabilize and will always sound good. Has anyone experienced this continued roller coster ride in good-to-poor sound from the Morrows?
kisawyer
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,045 posts
 
I would expect that line voltage variation would affect your preamp, amps and speakers.

It might be a good idea to get a voltmeter in the same room with you. If the system is sounding good, make a note of the line voltage. Do the same for when it is not and then compare. You'll find out very quickly what is up.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,590 posts
 
I am very confident it's not the wires.

If the pattern repeats itself at regular listening intervals, most likely it is your ears picking up on something that is not right after a certain period of time. The new ICs may just be enabling this to a greater extent than prior.

More info on what sounds "bad" the third night would be helpful to facilitate some more useful feedback perhaps.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,590 posts
 
I am very confident it's not the wires.

If the pattern repeats itself at regular listening intervals, most likely it is your ears picking up on something that is not right after a certain period of time. The new ICs may just be enabling this to a greater extent than prior.

More info on what sounds "bad" the third night would be helpful to facilitate some more useful feedback perhaps.

With tube gear, the tubes themselves (old? weak? not operating up to spec?) should always be an early suspect when something is not sounding right.
tbg
5,263 posts
 
Mapman, I cannot imagine how anyone can say confidently that it is not the wires. But I know how fruitless this argument is.

Kisawyer, Radio Shack has inexpensive digital meters that will allow you to monitor your line voltage.

But the real question is how has your sound been since you first posted. If I am right, it would be getting better. If you find it varies by the time of day or continues to get worse, our hypotheses need to change.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,590 posts
 
By wires, I mean the ICs that are/were the OPs prime suspect.

May or may not be power related and/or anything else at this point. I'd definitely try to rule out tube issues up front unless I knew for sure all tubes in play are working as they should.
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