My longtime audio buddy Thurston has "given up" on tubes several times. Yet, here he is, using 300B monoblocks after trying three modern Nelson Pass designs. He pushes the envelope (mods) on his gear and things fail, generally tubes. I like the comment that the goal is the same, so understandably, hi-end will ultimately merge. I find they have. Up until the Covid, my favorite combo was Thurston's Pass XA30.8 fed by an Audio Matiere Paraphrase preamplifier into large, modded corner Tannoys...in a big open space, nearfield. He's since upgraded speakers.
I'm about to test the waters with a Roger Modjeski (RIP) Music Reference RM10 MKII tube amp being added here to my reference NAD M2 digital amp (dac/pre). It will be my first tube amplifier in 50 years of audio. In addition, a new pro-gear Focusrite Clarett 4Pre USB Audio Interface now enables me to direct bass duty to my self-powered subs and above 80hZ (or so) to my sealed Salk Veracitys, taking the lower bass duties off the power amps entirely. The Clarett additionally allows DSP work with the bass. The goal is to reduce Doppler Effects on the monitors and tune the bass. So far, with the M2, things are progressing nicely. Once mastered, onto the tube amp!! Will report in some fashion down the road, I'm certain. More Peace, Pin.
