There are a heck of a lot of adjectives that are applicable in the audiophile world. And, based on a previous thread, a few that are not at all relevant (such as self-effacing).
I can go with just about any description, but the one adjective I can't let pass is "accurate".
My experience has proven to me that no audio component can aspire to that description, and to paint an entire group of audio components (be they solid state, tube, digital, analog, planar, electrostatic, dynamic, copper, or silver), is something that I could not disagree with more. What one thinks is "accurate" is just as likely to be considered flawed by the next person.
I've been party to various demonstrations of a company comparing live music ala a piano or bass guitar to recorded music through their component to prove how "accurate" their product it. While I was impressed the first few times, eventually I learned that if you hand them a CD containing music in another flavor, it was soon apparent how "accurate" that component no longer was.
In all these years, I'm still waiting for someone to build "accurate".
And, for the record, in my opinion, tubes can often sound MORE detailed than solid state. Though, for preamps, I'm just as likely to be OK with a solid state as a tube preamp. Passives can be an option, but can oftentimes also not be the answer. Every preamp, tube or solid state, that I have tried has proven inferior to running no preamp.
I can go with just about any description, but the one adjective I can't let pass is "accurate".
My experience has proven to me that no audio component can aspire to that description, and to paint an entire group of audio components (be they solid state, tube, digital, analog, planar, electrostatic, dynamic, copper, or silver), is something that I could not disagree with more. What one thinks is "accurate" is just as likely to be considered flawed by the next person.
I've been party to various demonstrations of a company comparing live music ala a piano or bass guitar to recorded music through their component to prove how "accurate" their product it. While I was impressed the first few times, eventually I learned that if you hand them a CD containing music in another flavor, it was soon apparent how "accurate" that component no longer was.
In all these years, I'm still waiting for someone to build "accurate".
And, for the record, in my opinion, tubes can often sound MORE detailed than solid state. Though, for preamps, I'm just as likely to be OK with a solid state as a tube preamp. Passives can be an option, but can oftentimes also not be the answer. Every preamp, tube or solid state, that I have tried has proven inferior to running no preamp.