Dear Batiport: You have a great audio system. Congratulations !.
What is wrong with your system music/audio reproduction? What are you looking for ? What's wrong with the Halcro electronics ?.
If we are a music lovers and we want to recreate this art at our homes then we all want that our audio system can reproduce the music/sound: ACCURATE TO THE RECORDING, nothing less and nothing more.
The audio signal that comes in the LP/CD/SACD/DVDA it is a degraded signal that has to go through several steps before we can listen it. Our duty is that this already degraded signal goes through our audio system with the less posible degradation ( accurate to the recording ). Our electronics not only has to have a good design and a good execution design, they have to have a dead flat frecuency response and minimal electronic distortions ( your Halcro meets these parameters ). If you change to tube electronics then you will be walking in a wrong direction, I tell you why: there are not a single tube preamp/amplifier that can be ACCURATE TO THE RECORDING, all tube electronics are EQUALIZERS, their frecuency response change according the speakers changes impedance ( there is no flat speaker impedance through the speaker frecuency response, always change ), something that not occurs with SS electronics. Maybe the people likes this equalized sound, but this is not the issue, and maybe some people don't like the non-equalized sound.
Many times I did to my self this question: when I go to a concert hall to hear a piano concert: I'm hearing a equalized piano sound or I'm hearing a piano sound?
I'm not against the tubes I am in favor of MUSIC and if you are in music favor then you can't go with tube electronics because they are not ACCURATE TO THE RECORDING. If you want a recording sound reproduction make-up then go for the tubes. I stay with the music.
Rcprince told to you that the Boulder/Halcro electronics are " neutral and give more of the recording " but he don't like it, Kmccarty told us that " Boulder ( SS ) are neutral and detailed, in the same way MUSIC is ", Rcrump told " Avalon needs a high damping factor, that any tube unit will allow ".
Now, Jtinn told " Tenor deffeat the Halcro DM68: and the differences was night and day ", shure was night and day, he is comparing two differents products: an amplifier ( Halcro ) against an equalizer ( Tenor ).
Rlapporte told " the Boulder is always considered more " musical" "> We don't buy an amplifier because is or is not musical: it don't exist a " musical amplifiers ", it only exist amplifiers ( the musical amplifiers exist only in our imagination ), some are accurates and some don't.
BTW, maybe you can improve your quality sound doing something with your front end and maybe in your room condiitoning and its interaction with your speakers or changing your speakers ( yes, you can do something with your audio system cables, too ).
Regards and always enjoy the music.
Raul.
