Warm vs Revealing—the struggle for balance

Hey, My favorite way to get warmth and revealing is a tube preamp and a SS amp. I use ARC Ref 2se with a Luxman M10X. Even if you went with an much older preamp and went reasonable class D amp. Even some of the Chinese stuff as long as it can drive your speakers properly. It is the sound you car looking for. Rogue has great preamps that won’t break the bank. My first preference would’ve the preamp. It is the soul of your system. One of my favorite integrated amps of all time is the Rogue Sphinx. Tube input, 100w SS amp, and it it has a very nice phono stage for $1800 with the metal remote. I hope this helps. 

after reading this I've concluded that my daughter's amazon alexa is a Monet.

@jastralfu

I guess my point is exactly that. Different strokes for different folks. In sound just like art. Do you prefer a high res detailed image of your water lilies or a more abstract impression? How about of Medusa? Maybe if enough detail is obscured and otherwise distorted you don’t change to stone? You never know! How much of that horrific recording of an otherwise enthralling Motorhead tune can a Motorhead fan even handle? Break out the filters! A strategically placed tube or two might do. OR just stick with mp3.  DSP anyone?

@mapman 

Fair enough. I misunderstood your post!  Reading for comprehension escapes me sometimes.

I can say.....I feel I have the perfect system with a perfect balance. I truly believe I am out of the race. It's been about 30 years.

TD