Ok, a part from some silly answers above (good to know there are some senses of humour out there), it would appear that the consensus is that there is no sonic degradation of sound quality with having tubes in each link of the audio chain. Good to know. Retubing costs are another issue, as might be locating one bad tube when there are so many in the entire chain. Albert Porter --> what techniques do you use to isolate and find a "bad" tube when you've got so many in so many components?
Too many tubed components in the system?
As a newbie to the tube side of audio, is there such a thing as too many tubed components in the audio signal path?
I have an Audio Aero CDP that has a tubed output stage, have just bought a tube amp (VTL ST-150) and am considering either a tube active linestage or passive linestage.
* Will having an all-tubed component audio chain sound too tubey? Does the concept of "too much of a good thing" apply to tubed reproduced music?
* If the answer above is 'Yes' then is there a max. number of tubed components that one should have in their system and if so then what should they be? (e.g. CDP+preamp vs CDP+amp vs preamp+amp)
Thanks for your insights.
I have an Audio Aero CDP that has a tubed output stage, have just bought a tube amp (VTL ST-150) and am considering either a tube active linestage or passive linestage.
* Will having an all-tubed component audio chain sound too tubey? Does the concept of "too much of a good thing" apply to tubed reproduced music?
* If the answer above is 'Yes' then is there a max. number of tubed components that one should have in their system and if so then what should they be? (e.g. CDP+preamp vs CDP+amp vs preamp+amp)
Thanks for your insights.