Hey everyone:
I think I might have to agree with Cleaneduphippy and Newbee on this subject and say that the amp/speaker combination will make a greater difference on the "tube feel" of the system.. And I'm basing it on my personal experience as I was shopping for my components.
One of the first things that I bought was a Tube CDP (Sonic Frontiers SFCD-1) which in my opinion is a pretty "tube-y" CDP to begin with.. at least compared to some of the Cary CDPs. With that being said, after hooking it up into my Krell integrated, there was a *subtle* difference, but honestly, to me it didn't feel warm enough. I buckled and spent some more money I didn't have and bought some Cary monoblocks and the difference was night and day.
I strongly recommend switching out your amps first before working on the pre amp or CDP. Even if it's something simple like an ST-70 or something.. It'll give you the kind of sound that you want and are going after.
I think I might have to agree with Cleaneduphippy and Newbee on this subject and say that the amp/speaker combination will make a greater difference on the "tube feel" of the system.. And I'm basing it on my personal experience as I was shopping for my components.
One of the first things that I bought was a Tube CDP (Sonic Frontiers SFCD-1) which in my opinion is a pretty "tube-y" CDP to begin with.. at least compared to some of the Cary CDPs. With that being said, after hooking it up into my Krell integrated, there was a *subtle* difference, but honestly, to me it didn't feel warm enough. I buckled and spent some more money I didn't have and bought some Cary monoblocks and the difference was night and day.
I strongly recommend switching out your amps first before working on the pre amp or CDP. Even if it's something simple like an ST-70 or something.. It'll give you the kind of sound that you want and are going after.