The signal must be going thru ea.cable to a unit that is powered up.For a dig.source that means the player,and the dac,or dig. preamp. For interconnect: that would be the pre, and the amp.no volume is required,but the amp must be powered up,as well as the pre with signal passing (cd on repeat).Speaker wire break in follows this same principal,you can have the volume turned down. The only time you have to have volume is to break in speakers.
