I'm going back to tubes... a question for y'all

With poor digital recordings and lower quality digital playback gear, i agree that tubes can really breath life, body and soul into your listening habits. This is especially true if those crappy digital recordings are being played back on a lower grade digital front end AND "sterile" SS electronics.

Other than that, most tubed gear is somewhat slow, warm and soft. To add to that, most tube based amps lack dynamic impact, especially when run with typical "audiophile approved" speakers. These "colourations" tend to balance out the "hard, bright and lean" sounding digital based recordings and systems that most people have and use. As such, i can understand how this type of situation happens.

One should honestly ask themselves the following question. If it wasn't for the introduction of "digital" recordings and playback, how many tubed components do you think we would have today as compared to SS designs? My guess is, not nearly as many.

Buy and use what you like. There's no sense in spending your hard earned cash on something that you don't like or trying to please someone else that won't be listening to your system. Sean
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Sean makes some very valid point. In addition, don't fail to recognize that a quality SS amp will play for years requiring nothing but occasional dusting and possibly cleaning the connectors.

I'm not sure that I would expect then same from tubes. It's the fuel injection vs. carburetion analogy. F.I. is very reliable and incredibly efficient, carbureters aren't. But there is nothing like the sound of a big ol' quad with all four barrels open.

Only drawback? You could be running second in a two car race.

It depends on the track and driver.

Which amp are you buying from Paul, the Cayin TA-30 or a classic re-furb'd tube amp? I purchased both a stock and fully modified Cayin from Paul and they are tremendous values. Plus, you get Paul! Buying a Chinese built amp from someone that doesn't personally know how to repair it is not a very good idea. I spoke with a dealer the other day that told me ALL warranty services are provide through the seller, not the manufacturer. Probably a good thing since shipping a 45 lb amp back to China would be very costly!

Enjoy,

TIC

I just replaced my Bel Canto 200.2s with Atma-sphere M60 MK II.2s (from Audiogon, thank you Steve!). I'd had the earlier M50s and stupidly sold them to replace them with the Bel Cantos. The latter were nice and got my Von Schweikert VR-4s off the ground and were fast but I always felt I was missing something (like low level detail). I got Paul Speltz's Zero autoformers this time around, and they step up the input impedence of the speakers so that the M60s can drive them with authority. My system has never sounded better.Good luck.

Sean, you hit the nail squarely on the head. Not all material is as cleanly recorded as Levinsons Red Rose sacd. The breathy sax, the airy voices, the strings...masterful and engaging. The orchestral tracks in The Little Mermaid show off dynamics and soundstage to a fare-thee-well.

When I put on Mark OConnors 'Heroes' (and other cd and/or vinyl) and all I can think about is 'how poorly recorded' some of these tracks are, it really can get in the way of enjoying the musical intention these folks laid down.

My thought in stepping up to the 'tube plate' was based on sweetening up the system a bit, and getting back to enjoying the music. If a touch of accuracy and dynamics are lost, so be it. If it 'distorts' the recording in a positive way, that could be just peachy. If it's 'real music' and I get sucked into the performance, it will be worth it.

I guess it's feeble attempt (or a copout?) on the path of upgradeitis. I am trying to avoid replacing every cable and component in this digital system two or three times in the chase for the sweet sound of tubes. Basically just skipping the middleman and heading straight for the glow of valves. If it doesn't work out, well, back to the drawing board.

I'ts funny, I don't remember having any trouble at all with my old tube stuff, tho the S.C. did cook a capacitor once that I easily replaced. Memory is a funny thing, and maybe I'm not remembering the sweet sound of tubes at all... but the smell of Grandma's pot roast! ;-)