Thanks everyone for your experience and views: John: when you say "I feel you can get a whole lot of the tube magic in the front end." I assume you mean it's possible to get some of the tube magic from a player?
Tubeguys:How much "tube sound" from tube players?
I made the choice to go with solid state electronics so far. Plus, I have a 3-year-old son which makes having a lot of exposed tubes dangerous. I started in high end 3 years ago. So I have gone with tubed players to gain the tube sound in my system. I have a modified Jolida player w/RCA 12aX7's and a Modwright Sony 999ES player (currently using Raytheon 5687 tubes) Also have Amperex 7119's and T'Sols. Is it possible to achieve a high percentage of the tube sound (midrange presence, layering, palpability) using tubed players in place of tube preamps/amps? Thanks for your opinions.