Well with my experience, most TUbe Preamps, or DIGITAL Tube based components as well have actually had more detail, and sometimes even more forward and strong so to speak.. SAme with many phono stages, a lot of the time the tubes seem to compress less, or have even more outright clarity. There are no doubt some tubes that are "Soft" sounding, sometimes its the tubes themselves, sometimes the Design of the circuit they are in.
Tube CDP/DAC sound: too "refined"?
Hi all, this is a controversial topic and I hope I will not offend anyone: imho many tube CDPs/DACs sound too "refined", too "smooth". Sometimes I would like to hear some "texture" but this texture is being smoothed over. It's fun and beautiful to listen at initially but on the long run it becomes... boring. It's like too much crême fraiche: it could be surprisingly tasty, but after a few times it won't surprise you any longer.
Chris
Chris