Does a Tube Dac make sense?

I’m using a Wells Audio Cipher tube dac right now. It replaced a Holo Audio May.  Sounds more “real” and “natural” to me.  Some will like the former, some the latter. Both $4k-5k.  Designer of the Wells says he tubes he uses 12bh7 are more linear than some others.  Who knows?

Seems to me the goal of a DAC should be accuracy. It seems like a crapshoot to try to color the sound with tube distortion at the DAC level, especially when you're already coloring it at the preamp level. Who knows what combination of distortion you'll get. You can get an SS DAC with well below audible distortion for under $150, like the  S.M.S.L Sanskrit 10th MK II.

The naysayer that make blanket statements that tube DACs are inferior clearly aren’t speaking from experience. I couldn’t be happier with my MHDT Orchid tube DAC coupled with my BAT VK-5i tube preamp and BAT VK-600 class A solid state amp.

It all depends on how one builds a system. To my way of thinking I want the dac to maximize resolution and minimize coloration. Coloration can be incorporated from elsewhere in system.
My Sabre chip dac would likely be considered on analytical side of spectrum. I have the ability to color with various iterations of system, dac direct to amp, dac through two choices of passive preamps, dac through tube buffer, dac through active tube pre. I can get this maximum resolving and perhaps cooler sounding (to some) dac to make music sound rather clinical or bring natural, real human performers into room.

My issue with tube dacs is not with potential colorations, I'm just not convinced they're maximally resolving.

This true signals/coloration debate is very simplistic....

Remind me of the tube/S.S. debate...

Remind me of the vinyl/dac debate...

Remind me of the evolution/ design debate...

Remind me of the male/female superiority debate...

When we debate it is very important to distinguish external duality and internal polarity...
and most of the times there is so much aspects to the problem that it is impossible to generalyse from one perspective only...


If we do not take into account all distinctions, we will oppose complementary factors, elements, and we will confuse our taste and bias with reality....

Then a tube dac could make sense in some specific case not in other.... Simple....