Your question is fair and I agree most people seek natural or "neutral" and many find that this does not satisfy their wants. I say who cares if it is natural or neutral if the sound is what one enjoys - that is all that matters!
We all have different tastes and ways of describing the sound we like. We may love somebody elses system/sound during an audition, but in the long term may not enjoy that same sound. Strive for what you like and be damned with what other people's opinions are - as long as you are happy.
But, to your question of changing equipment, specifically a preamp. Your comments about liking some warmth/romantics from tubes. There are many choices in tubed preamps that can do this. But for me, I like the Aesthetix Calypso (I have owned it twice, but not presently, am always considering going back to it though). This is both a very good preamp, but for somebody like you, it may be ideal in that it lends itself excellently to tube rolling.
I like this aspect of this preamp the best. I can change tubes to meet my mood like no other component. It can produce a very detailed, clean, even drier sound. It can produce a wonderful romantic glow. It can provide tight, controlled bass and also looser, boomier bass. It can offer great HF extension with plenty of sparkle. I have experienced few components that are so amenable to differing likes via the quick and easy changing of tubes that the Calypso affords its owners (its cover is even held on with velcro to allow super fast tube changes).
FYI - unless somebody has really played around with various NOS tubes in their Calypso, it is impossible for them to convey the capabilities of this preamp. Using the stock tubes or some EH new tubes is not going to cut it and those that just have this experience have no idea the capability of this preamp!
I find no real flaw with this preamp and as long as you are open to owning a few pairs of tubes, it can deliver whatever sound you are seeking for any individual listening session.
Can the ARC preamps do this? Not in my experience (I presently own one). Can the CJ preamps do this? Again, not in my experience to the same degree. Can the BAT's or Cary's do this? Again, less so (I owned both as well). I can say this, avoid the "super tube" based units (if you want the extreme flexibility of the benefits of tube rolling), they provide the least amount of adaptive changes (via tube swapping) to meet your moods and feelings of the day.
We all have our own goals with the performance we are hoping to achieve. Don't let somebody else's goals dictate your system.
We all have different tastes and ways of describing the sound we like. We may love somebody elses system/sound during an audition, but in the long term may not enjoy that same sound. Strive for what you like and be damned with what other people's opinions are - as long as you are happy.
But, to your question of changing equipment, specifically a preamp. Your comments about liking some warmth/romantics from tubes. There are many choices in tubed preamps that can do this. But for me, I like the Aesthetix Calypso (I have owned it twice, but not presently, am always considering going back to it though). This is both a very good preamp, but for somebody like you, it may be ideal in that it lends itself excellently to tube rolling.
I like this aspect of this preamp the best. I can change tubes to meet my mood like no other component. It can produce a very detailed, clean, even drier sound. It can produce a wonderful romantic glow. It can provide tight, controlled bass and also looser, boomier bass. It can offer great HF extension with plenty of sparkle. I have experienced few components that are so amenable to differing likes via the quick and easy changing of tubes that the Calypso affords its owners (its cover is even held on with velcro to allow super fast tube changes).
FYI - unless somebody has really played around with various NOS tubes in their Calypso, it is impossible for them to convey the capabilities of this preamp. Using the stock tubes or some EH new tubes is not going to cut it and those that just have this experience have no idea the capability of this preamp!
I find no real flaw with this preamp and as long as you are open to owning a few pairs of tubes, it can deliver whatever sound you are seeking for any individual listening session.
Can the ARC preamps do this? Not in my experience (I presently own one). Can the CJ preamps do this? Again, not in my experience to the same degree. Can the BAT's or Cary's do this? Again, less so (I owned both as well). I can say this, avoid the "super tube" based units (if you want the extreme flexibility of the benefits of tube rolling), they provide the least amount of adaptive changes (via tube swapping) to meet your moods and feelings of the day.
We all have our own goals with the performance we are hoping to achieve. Don't let somebody else's goals dictate your system.