Why no interest in reel to reel if you're looking for the ultimate sound?

Raul, I'm an electronics technician, that's how I earned a living. There was a time when I lived by specifications, and SS was always the best.

When my highly rated SS preamp bit the dust, I decided to try tubes. A dealer sent me a a CJ tube loaner, it was a PV10. This preamp had "apparent" distortion, there was no mistake about it, but the music sounded better.

I invited an audiophile friend over to evaluate who hears better than me. He immediately noted that although there was both noise and distortion, the music came through all of that, and it sounded better "musically".



Some people like the "sound" of things while others distinguish how close whatever it is to live music; it's possible that the sound they like is not the closest to live music.


I believe what I say is "true", while you believe what you say is true. In the end, it's not about the truth, but what you prefer.

Tubes all the way baby! I run my VPI Prime Sig Rosewood through a Bob's Device SUT, then an Aric Audio Transcend tubed phono stage with a separate chassis for the tubed power supply, and then into a Primaluna Dialogue Premium HP Integrated Amplifier. Phenomenal and dead quiet. My ReVox PR99 MKI is the same way - super silent into the Primaluna and an auditory delight!

completely agree with @homer_skins.........tubes are the way to go with tape or vinyl.....more realistic sounding. have owned 5 figure SS and tube phono stages; even the best SS has a dryness to it. tubes do not.

You should hear Revox with the internal playback electronics by passed with tube playback. really spectacular!!

@johnss "You should hear Revox with the internal playback electronics by passed with tube playback. really spectacular!!"

Oh, I have hear that this is the way to go for sure! Arian Jansen who modified my ReVox and whom I also purchased it from does that tubed pre mod in his more expensive decks.  Arian also makes GREAT tapes!  Dana

Dear @orpheus10  : For years I used tubes electronics and owned or listened in my system almost anytubes out there from the one you name it ( CJ. ) to the Audio Note Ongaku-On. I was with tubes because that's what the corrupted AHEE teachs to aLL OF US.

Then and step by step I learned that tubes were and are wrong and can't fully honor MUSIC: noise,distortions, coloratuions and the like impedes that can do it.

So I switch to SS till I found out the " rigth " answers and even was part of the design and manufacture of my phonolinepreamp Essential 3150/3160 that even today is a challenge for any other phonolinepreamp.

I started to learn about when I started to attend more often to live MUSIC events seated at near field position very similar as where normally the recording microphones are " seated ". Before that I always attend at least one time a week to listen live MUSIC.

So, I have some experiences on what to look for in any room/system.

Now, there are SS designs and SS very well designed items and your experiences will depends of the design quality levels and the excecution quality levels of those SS designs.

In the other side normally when a gentleman accustomed to years of tubes designs makes a comparison with SS units he is waiting that what he will listening it comes with similar colorations that tubes he is accustom to and this is the trouble for him because SS just can't sounds/performs like tube in almost any way,  SS is faithful to the recording adding the less and losting the less when tubes are the other way around.

This is not what I like it but what is rigth or wrong. Normally we like what is wrongs thank's to that corrupted AHEE and that's all.

R.