Home Computer Audio Asylum

Music servers and other computer based digital audio technologies.

Re: PS Audio digitial link III

> Any comments regarding my dislike for tubes or reasons why I
> should consider tubes?

Tubes sound great. Here's the analogy I always think of. Have
you ever treated a piece of wood furniture with Scott's Liquid
Gold? You know how it makes the grain seem like it's sparkling
up from an enormous depth? Another analogy -- you know how
lapidarists put a piece of cut opal under liquid (water or oil)
to see the color properly? That's what tubes seem to do for
the sound. They bring out the color, they add depth. They
also always seem to shift the tonal "center of gravity" downward.

Regarding reliability -- they're probably more robust than
folks give them credit for nowadays. A few decades ago, all
household electronics -- the kitchen radio, the livingroom
TV -- used tubes. But they do generate heat. Caveats (learned
through bitter experience) -- stay away from overly complicated
tube gear. Hybrids of tubes and solid state, for example
(tubes next to op amps -- a Counterpoint SA-4 OTL amp I once
owned comes to mind). Keep tubes **out** of optical disc
transports (a California Audio Labs Tempest II SE I once
owned comes to mind. Also a Cary-modded Rotel 865. In the
case of the Cary, I once opened the case to change the output
tubes for "better" ones that my dealer had strongly
recommended. I had just been playing the Cary/Rotel before
opening the case, and like an idiot, I didn't let it cool down
first. The transport laser died instantly of thermal shock, just
from being exposed to room-temperature air.) I'd definitely go
for a separate tube DAC rather than an all-in-one tube CD
player, despite the S/PDIF-avoiding advantages of the latter.

That said, I always feel slightly guilty about playing my tube
gear. I'm conscious of using up a finite resource (and I don't
just mean the extra electricity they eat up!). I especially
don't like to use tubes just for background music. That would
be like guzzling fine wine as if it were Coca-Cola, without
paying attention to its taste. As a result, I find myself actually
avoiding my tube systems. For casual listening, like when I'm
getting ready for work, I'll play a "rough and ready" solid
state system that I don't feel guilty about leaving on all the
time.


This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  Atma-Sphere Music Systems, Inc.  


Follow Ups Full Thread
Follow Ups


You can not post to an archived thread.