Headphone Heights

RE: A dissenting POV...............

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This Post Has Been Edited by the Author

In Reply to: RE: A dissenting POV............... posted by Chuck Y on December 19, 2011 at 11:04:34

My reference for tube sound will always be 300B set monoblocks. I sold those eventually when I went to planar speakers.
To me, tube sound starts with a tube dac or tube phono, continues on with a tube preamp, and ends with tube amps. All without negative feedback or opamps.
I am not one of those people who think that throwing in one piece of tube buffered gear somehow tubifies the rest of a solid state system. Tubes in all equipment for me.
You are correct in that I prefer darker equipment, and I seek equipment with an emphasis on ambient details and trailing rather than leading attack. That is the way the audio note dacs are, and that is how I make my equipment sound through tube rolling. What you call "less resolving", I think of as "better safe than sorry". Very few equipment is capable of being 100% resolving with no fatigue 100% of the time. I go for 50% resolving, but no fatigue 100%.
That is why I shy away from the HD600 every time I put it on. It is like listening to a recording, since it sounds so neutral and flat. I put the SR225 on and everything makes sense to me again. It is like listening to a performance, not a recording, with the sound popping out and performers almost right there with me.

Edits: 12/19/11

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