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  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
inna
7,306 posts
 

Color is in the details too not only in tone and timbre. You want it all. Tube preamp is very important, in addition to power amp.

As for DACs, why would any audiophile want to listen in digital what was recorded and mastered in analog and then try to get as close to analog source as possible ? Sounds strange, doesn’t it ?

If it was recorded/mastered in digital then, well, you have no choice, though good records still sound better even if the recording/mastering was done in digital.

lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,605 posts
 

@arafiq 

Consider adding Lampizator’s soon to be released Poseidon DAC between your Innuos ➡️ Vitus and call it a day! 

fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,635 posts
 

Foz-SSX

iFi Micro iTube2 Tube Buffer

You need the function to switch them in/out without dicking with wires. You'll end up spending bux on cables before you get "better" SQ than you have now.  Definitely different.

audioman58's avatar
audioman58
4,202 posts
 

Great dacs like the T+A 200. Sound very natural with better detail then tubes ,

different  interconnects too from the dac can influence the sound .

myself mod the Speakers Xovers which is a Huge weak spot in most speakers 

including ones over $30k. Most use average at best parts quality especially if under $15 k that's why most speaker companies don’t mention it for there is nothing 

to Brad about they don’t test 10 different type of capacitors ,just sound decent good enough l in my latest build I spent over$1600in parts ,average speaker$500 at most. Just take a a driver to see for yourself.  TonyGee of Humble homemade hifi capacitor test  is over 90% accurate with his ratings and Sonic character.

wolf_garcia
6,726 posts
 

Two things stand out in this conversation...tubes can be removing information (where do they put it? In cheap capacitors?), and sequencers can add color. Sequencers? In my experience while living in the actual world it seems tubes can get more detail out of a signal which may seem like "color" although it could (if tubes are pushed or old) simply be pleasant distortion...and sequencers allow synthesized sounds to be repeated, which isn’t "color" unless you have a very short attention span and need things to be repeated...or you’re recording your magnum opus like Wendy Carlos...or you don’t know what a sequencer is.

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