Tekton Double Impacts

David,
I listen to more digital now than I ever have and I would say the percentage is 70 to 30'percent digital to analog.The records I listen to are some that have never been released on cd or the record has better sound than my particular cd.
But with the better Dac's we have now I find myself spinning a lesser amount of records.

My benchmark to adjust and to critically judge my system is about a dozen different songs that I know very well and they are all digital for the easier use and more solid repeatability.

Best of luck to you,

Kenny.

Hello David,
Here’s my background. I grew up in a very music oriented family, I played trumpet beginning at age 10, my mother, both grandmothers and a brother played the piano and another brother played the trombone. There was much live music in our home. My father loved music and the record player seemed to always be playing Duke Ellington recordings.

Live instruments were my reference by default. I grew up in the vinyl records era and stuck with this medium for decades as early digital just didn’t move me. Eventually I discovered digital components that sounded natural and believable. The genre of jazz has always been well recorded for the most part (IMO) on Redbook CD. I just had to aquire the right digital gear.

I don’t miss my previous analog system although it was very satisfying, I’m very content with what I currently have as its natural and engaging which meets my objective.
Charles

Honestly, I think that you can have tube components that sound bad as well as sound good. The very same with solid state components. You can have good and bad.

You can find stuff that finds great with both types. Some people may have a preference for one or another (hence sounds better to them), but I think you can have someone that would like just the opposite. I think once you hit a certain level, you start to split hairs, but that's just my opinion.

No, actually you can’t have tube components that sound bad. They all sound good. What you can have, however, is people that are all thumbs, people that can't hear and room acoustics that make everything sound bad.

Gentleman,

Appreciated all the thoughtful posts today.  Good food for thought. 
I too listen primarily to Redbook and occasionally SACD.  I thankfully saved the LP's of my youth.  While I enjoy them on occasion, overall I find the sound of well engineered CD's very satisfying and this is what I listen to 99% of the time.

DI tweak--IT'S TIME TO GENTLY TIGHTEN THE DRIVERS.  I did that last night and  the soundtrack to Hamilton sounded better than ever--killer.  Tight, tight and deep bass

Kenny,  Let me take you in a totally different direction on CD suggestions.  The Hamilton CD I have mentioned more than once sounds absolutely great on the DI's.  It really shows off the low end capabilities of the DI's .  (This may be a big reason I am enjoying my SS gear so much right now driving the DI's)  The sound stage is great.  It is a very well engineered CD set.  And most of all the performance--WOW!  A great musical journey into the story of one of the Founding Fathers.  If you can listen to this and not be totally emotionally involved and moved (imagine this on tubes my my valved brethren!!) than I would be at a loss to explain why.  It SOUNDED so good it took me a number of times through to really appreciate everything going on here.  Best present my daughter ever gave me!