break in question

is it advisable or necessary to repeat the break in process when changing the component interface

Hardly. However, it has been rumoured that a wire, left unconnected for a long time may need to "re-settle".
Admittedly, however, IME it takes very little time to "settle-in" a wire EXCEPT for the tonearm cable (which takes longer). Cheers

>> it has been suggested to me that the process of breaking in a cable really entails "acclimating" the link between components to a particular cable. <<

I don't think I'd lose too much sleep over this. Once the cable has had several "heat up" and "cool down" sessions (basically a mechanical settling of the cable), it's hard to imagine *why* it should make any difference what is connected on either end. It's not like the electrons need to feel comfortable with the new equipment...