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What should I change

Hello everyone,

I currently have a 2 channel setup consisting of all Audia electronics (Audia Flight Pre, 100 AMP, CD-One), peak consult empress speakers, 2 stereo subs (audio data soutien 2s). ICs and PCs are made by my consultant.

While I can't complain about any aspect of the sound (soundstage, timber, impact etc is all good) I am stuck with the most intangible problem. Lack of or low on emotion. I can't seem to be able to get drawn into music.

I changed from all ARC an year back and although its been a long time I don't recall having this problem so consistently. Sure I had my bad days due to stress etc where music was not enjoyable but I don't remember this being a long streak.

Maybe I am just tired as it took me a year to get to my present system and it has been a long and hard journey. Or maybe its the tubes that I am still missing.

My consultant has a view (similar to many others I have read on the forums) that these days a well set up system sounds more or less the same as during the last 5 years or so SS and tubes have become very close if not the same. However tube maintenance is a pain. Therefore he is now a pure SS camper. However one twist is that he himself has a tube amp :-)

One question I have is that if I decide to try tube gear which one makes most difference in your experience. This will help as I can't test it with all tube gear to begin with but if one component would take me in the right direction I will move back into tube territory gradually again.

I also heard once that low damping factor (12) of ARC Ref110 was the part that gave it the distinct sound I seemed to enjoy so much. Any comments on that?

Personally I am not an expert and does not have decades of fideling experience with either tubes or SS but I know what I like.

In this thread I hope that people with more experience/knowledge will share some with me.

Thanks,
-Rayden
rayden1972

Showing 2 responses by mapman

mapman's avatar
mapman
21,835 posts
 
Not familiar with Audia but ditching the ARC equipment sounds questionable to me.

A tube DAC with the CDP if it has digital outputs might be a low cost, low impact change worth a try.
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,835 posts
 
"For all folks suggesting tube pre/DAC what I have experienced and heard from other knowledgable people is that although a tube amp is the most painful tube component in terms of maintenance and weight unfortunately it is also the one having the most profound effect on sound. Therefore changing just to a tube DAC or pre will not give one the correct idea on tube sound."

This is probably a true statement in terms of relative impact of the amp versus other components, but I would not rule out a tube pre-amp and/or DAC based on this alone. I can vouch that the effect of a tube DAC can be very significant alone to the extent of totally changing the resulting sound, if that is what is desired. If what is needed is just a tweak, a tube DAC or pre can easily do that as well. THe devil is in the details....what tube piece to use and how it synergizes with the rest of the system, IMHO.
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