Interconnects Roller Coaster Ride

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.

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.

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.

Well, maybe it could be the wires. I am going through a similar thing right now. My case is a bit different though. I installed a new interconnect from which I had no idea what to expect. Right out of the box, no break-in and the sound was delightful. Who ever heard of this happening?Open, clear as a bell, realistic timbres, powerful, but controlled bass, tons of ambiance, etc. Even while in the shower I heard a musical rightness coming from the other room. Now a few days later and it is dullsville. Not a bad cable, but nothing like that first impression. I am chalking it up to the "rollercoaster ride" of break-in. What puzzles me though is that you have already put many hours on your cables and they still don't seem to stabilize. Time will tell in my case whether this cable comes back to life, or did my system just crave a leaner, brighter perspective. Please, I would like to request a cable that sounds like this un broken-in one!

Kisawyer 04-06-13
I purchased a pair of Morrow MA-1 interconnects, burned them in 24/7 for 500 hours.

Kisawyer 04-08-13
I suspected the Morrows because once I installed them and heard how well they sounded I immediately knew what to listen for during my sessions. When the sound degraded, I suspected the cables. The cables have never been moved during this entire process.

If I understand correctly, you therefore burned them in 24/7 for 500 hours using one or more of the components in the system.

In addition to AC line conditions, tubes, and several of the other possible explanations that have been suggested, that seems to me to cast suspicion on whichever component or components were being operated for those 500 hours. Especially if the component(s) that were operated for those 500 hours are of comparable age to those that are listed in your system description.

Personally, I see no reason to suspect the cables, and lots of reasons to suspect many other things.

Regards,
-- Al