Romulus CD player--

Thanks Winson. Yes I moved from the Lampi which was bested by the Romulus to the Yamamto that will stay. I like the Yamamoto more than any $10,000 dac I have heard including the mighty Lampi family.

The Yamamto is a very simple and special dac. No need to compare to other players as it just pleases. Makes one not care about this or that Aphile attribute or those big $$ dacs.

Sorry about the typos....Yamamoto. Those other dacs I owned certainly did some Aphile tricks better, but none could quite match the simple musical pleasure of the Yamamoto. The Romulus was very musical and perhaps if I mated it with the Perfect Wave transport I would still have it. The Perfect Wave transport is magic with the Yamamoto dac.

The Yamamoto dac may also be a better match with my DHT SET amp and sound. It seems to be cut from the same sonic cloth as a great DHT amp.

Bill,
There is actually a lot of logic in your statement concerning the Yamamoto DAC when you factor in the man behind it. Shigeki Yamamoto made/earned his reputation via his SET amplifiers and analog cartridges over a 20 year period(primarily in the Japanese market). He was determined to apply this experience and audio aesthetic and perspective to his DAC(he certainly succeeded ). Utterly organic, it just sounds right reproducing music as you have noted and I agree with you.
Charles,

Charles and Bill,
I am happy for both of you. I have having extreme purity and musicality from my Big7 and can trnsform the presentation by rolling DHTs in combination with therectifiers.

I am currently running a JAN 5r4gy with a new pair of EML45 - mesh plate pair I received yesterday. It stokes me that I have pairs of 45 globes from 1919 that I can use to get incredible midrange musicality and rectis like the Phillips metal base GZ34 that gives a tight minty fresh flavour. Most of these old tubbes cost me less that $20 a piece from a vintage seller in my area.

Nothing like big bottle DHTs...especially for chipless DSD.

Wisnon,
I have no doubt that the Big 7 DAC sounds fantastic. I use a DHT(101D)Line Stage and a 300b SET amplifier. DHT tubes when implemented properly just seem to be able to reproduce music in a most natural manner.The Yamamoto some how, someway has a very similar music making character. There truly are many roads that lead to Rome. The synergy aspect of putting together a system can't be overstated.
Charles,