Diagnosing strange pop, cracks at the begginning of playback

Hello


I have a CD player connected to a balanced amplifier via an xlr cable. The xlr output on the cd player hasn't been used for about 10 years or more.
My problem is that when I turn on the equipment, crackling appears, but it is worst at the beginning when I listen to a CD. Later, when the equipment has played for an hour and there are no more crackling noises or only few.

What could it be?

cheers Newman