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Digital Source with Tube Amplification

For perspective, I will be turning 36 next week so I didn't grow up listening to vinyl and have never really experienced tube amplification. I am getting a Yaqin EL34 tube integrated in the next couple of weeks and my dad thought it would be fun to use his vintage turntable as a source for a true analog listening experience. Logistics will likely make this difficult as we live states apart.

This discussion made me wonder what other peoples experiences have been using different combinations of gear. On the analog end you have a turntable and tube amplifier and on the digital end you have a CD player and a solid state amplifier.

I am curious if the people that prefer the analog systems enjoy the sound of a turntable with a solid state amplifier or a CD player with a tube amplifier more. Is one combination more analog sounding than the other in your experience?

Obviously, every experience and system is different so I am just looking for general observations based of your experiences.
mceljo
iramirez
68 posts
 
Ok, I'm going out on a limb here. I imagine that if I fall off I'll be on my own. So, in the most general sense, on average, hybrid-a will have the most analog sound. Sure, there are a million caveats to this. But I think that unless you are listening to the very best digital sources you will not get to a close enough facsimile of analog sound. I think that, on average, hybrid-a is your answer. Mind you, I very much prefer tube amplification to solid state and would dump my turntable in a second if I could afford an equally analog sounding DAC.

Cheers,

Ivan
mceljo OP
1,357 posts
 
Charles1dad - What's ironic is that if I listed every aspect of my system and listening room and somehow quantified my listening preferences in an objective way we'd be no closer to being able to discuss it because unless you personally experience what I experience the list of "conditions" is endless. So where does that leave us with an audio forum?

I just don't see where stating an opinion, however much it approaches being a wild guess, is so impossible.
minorl
1,016 posts
 
Charles1dad; A point of clarification. A Turntable to Solid State amplification is still analog. Tube amplification or solid state amplification is still analog. Digital is digital. But the signal driving speakers is ultimately analog. The sound coming out of the speakers is analog.
enjoy
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Mceljo,
There's no shortage of opinions given on this site (thousands over the years) but definitive conclusions, no.
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
I'll play this rhetorical game. Of course I must begin with a caveat, ;), the recording must be of analog recording and analog mixing, because I would rather listen to a AAD CD than a digitally mastered LP.

So assuming that these recording parameters have been satisfied, I would choose 1, 2, 3, 4 as my preferred order of system combinations generally speaking.

Of course there are always exceptions to every rule, audio is a very subjective hobby, so as always, YMMV.
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