2. misc-audio
  3. 186570-6055

How do you add color?

For those of you who are adherents of straight wire, ruler flat frequency response, accurate and neutral sound, artists’ true intentions, etc. ... please stop reading now. You’ve been warned. If you continue to read, you might get heartburn and since I’m a nice guy, I don’t want to do that to you.

Now, for those who are not opposed to adding a bit of color and flavor to tune/tweak the sound to their liking, what is your preferred method of madness? Speakers, amps, preamps, DACs, cables? I know many who like the combination of solid state amps with tube preamps. Lately, a lot of upmarket DACs are using tubes (Lampizator) or R2R to add a sort of tube-like flavoring. Let’s say you’re happy with your solid state amp but want to add a bit of tube magic to the chain, would you get there by way of tube preamps or tube DACs? Or both -- which might be too much of a good thing perhaps?

128x128arafiq
cdc
1,677 posts
 

DeVore speakers are described as colorful but not colored. I would agree with that statement.

Component-wise, I do it with the DAC and pre-amp.

hilde45's avatar
hilde45
4,813 posts
 

I had a tube DAC but comments here helped me understand that tubes in the input chain might be removing too much information. So, now, they're out.

Adjustments come, in descending order of impact, from 

(a) tube preamp input tube and 

(b) DAC.

Some adjustments also come from

(c)alternating between SS and tube amps and

(d) adjusting room treatments.

I have not found cables to move the needles significantly for my setup. The other variables have a much larger impact.

carlsbad2's avatar
carlsbad2
1,379 posts
 

The artist adds color.  so to get more color I listen to a lot of new music looking for gems.

dayglow
1,746 posts
 

I prefer texture for instruments and flesh tone for vocalists. IMO color implies over saturation of tone/timbre. The best way to achieve this is with source components Phono Preamp/Cartridge or Dac. 

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