effect of tubes in cd players

>>i wish i could quantify the word small<<

Piece of cake. Take a person who allegedly writes magazine reviews. For argument's sake let's, for grins and giggles, use somebody posting in these threads. Now add up all of his/her meaningful posts. That is a stellar example and definition of small.

I prefer german style cheesecake rather than new york style. Let me assure you the differences are NOT small.

Generalizations cannot be made on this topic IMO, any more than generalizations about SS outputs. It is very dependent on the design. Most tube designs have poorly designed power supplies and distribution, not to mention poor parts selection, so they appear to have "bloom" or HF roll-off or flabby bass. There is no reason why a tube design cannot sound a LOT like a decent SS design, and can be even better due to better dynamic linearity. It is also very dependent on the AC-coupling capacitors. Many times, it is the capacitors that you hear, not the tubes.

There are a few tubes that just dont perform well in ANY design, but there are the same analogies with op-amps and even transistors....these are the exception, not the rule.

>There is no reason why a tube design cannot sound a LOT like a decent SS design,<

That is if you want your system to sound as though it has a "decent" amplifier. No thanks, not for me. I want my system to sound like it has a "good" tube amplifier doing the duty. And that doesn't mean >HF roll-off or flabby bass<. Because that's NOT what a good tube amp sounds like. Nor does it sound like a SS device, which in most cases is definitely mediocre.

Oz