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Re: Tubes or Solid State?

Trevor writes . . .

It has been my opinion that tube amps gained some pre-eminance, at about the time of the birth of CD's. SET's have carried this tradition even further. It is likely that tube amps ameriorate some of the problems associated with 16/44 digitasl reproduction. This is fine, as far as it goes. What bothers me is that WHEN SACD (or something similar) gains acceptance in the industry, all those systems which are based on highly coloured components, may become obsolete, overnight. < <

I am in partial agreement, but more in the way of a question, than a statement. First, a lot of SE people are pure vinyl, so that part of the argument may not hold up. There is certainly something to be said for the numbers of people who have explored tubes as a way of getting away from the frequently described "clinical" sound of CD's.

But underneath this is a more basic question. To what degree have our preferences, in some way, been controlled by conscious or unconsciously driven adaptations to source limitations? Since very few of us have access to master tapes, we mostly live in a world of various levels of iterations.

If SACD (and perhaps DVD-A) really gets us close to the master tape, will this change how we think about reproduction?

I was facinated by what I did NOT know about my own system, as revealed by SACD. I think it is going to be hugely interesting to watch and listen to how consumers, recording engineers, and equipment designers react to this new medium.


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