Hello,
I am a huge proponent of a tube line stage to get the harmonic richness, volume of space, decays, etc., from the music of top-flight LP and CD sources. For broadcast music, the tuner may not have the ability to push this out to make it worthwhile. For movies (music concerts not included), it is a non-issue.
Keeping a tube product on all day and everyday will indeed be costly with tube replacement. Turning the unit off during the night would help. So to answer your question, it comes down to the percentage of the time you are listening to music in the system AND if the capabilities that a tube line stage can often bring will be beneficial in your setup. It's impossible to know this as you did not list the rest of your system.
And one final comment: just because a product has tubes in its implementation does not imply that it will have the attributes I described above. There are many tubed line stages that I have heard that are sterile and lack a 3-dimensional presentation that we often associate with tube based products.
John
I am a huge proponent of a tube line stage to get the harmonic richness, volume of space, decays, etc., from the music of top-flight LP and CD sources. For broadcast music, the tuner may not have the ability to push this out to make it worthwhile. For movies (music concerts not included), it is a non-issue.
Keeping a tube product on all day and everyday will indeed be costly with tube replacement. Turning the unit off during the night would help. So to answer your question, it comes down to the percentage of the time you are listening to music in the system AND if the capabilities that a tube line stage can often bring will be beneficial in your setup. It's impossible to know this as you did not list the rest of your system.
And one final comment: just because a product has tubes in its implementation does not imply that it will have the attributes I described above. There are many tubed line stages that I have heard that are sterile and lack a 3-dimensional presentation that we often associate with tube based products.
John