tube magic with digital source?

Sansui in the past take the time to take their best tube amplifier, one of the best in the world at this times, and create a S.S. amplifier that replicate it with his sound so perfectly that they compare the 2 side by side with no distinction between the 2...

This is one of the reason that i bought my Sansui of this era...

I really think that the varieties of tube amplifier and the varieties of S.S. amplifiers to compare with, coupled to the varieties of digital or analog sources, adding to that with the different possible embeddings controls, right or wrong, for all these possibilities of coupling, must preclude ANY definitive conclusion....

If i replace one day my Sansui with a tube amplifier(the Berning ZOTL) it will not at all because the sound is S.S..... Warm, detailed, tri dimensional etc it sound analog not digital at all for my ears, i even bought a second one....

Passion is also my personal quality and my main defect....😁

Then......

I will not condemn those who vouch for tubes, like those who vouch for turntable, never....

But S.S. is different from S.S. like no tubes sound like another tube amplifier....

It seems evident....

The most rewarding upgrade is not buying a new amp. or anything else, it is to install controls over the many dimensions where you system work....

This is my only certainty....After experiments.....

The only thing someone can affirm: "my actual tube amp sound better than all my past S.S. amp in this embeddings dimensions of my house".... Thats all....




Give me a S.S. amplifier of my choice, and another room and some time to work this out and i will beat him..... And vice versa if someone vouch for his S.S. amplifier....
Give me a ZOTL then and a house where i will control the embeddings and i will beat the opponent S.S. ...

The only exception will be very high end tube or S.S. unknown to me in a perfectly controlled opponent house that will beat my imperfect knowledge....😊


But even losing in this competition would never be able to erase my point about the importance of embeddings controls over almost any upgrade.... That is my opinion and limited experience...

Combining Analog and digital is the way.....For sure....

obviously tubes in audio gear existed prior to solid state amplification being invented and commercialized

with the advent of solid state amplification as well as the advent of cd’s as a format, the sound produced by high end audio systems went from warm and rolled off using tube gear (and lp’s or fm as the source), to very extended top to bottom but often with an added harshness and a thinned out /flattened midrange and midbass in solid state/cd driven systems

these two sound profiles are fundamentally synergistic - as the one school compensates for the weaknesses of the other, and if gear from both schools are combined intelligently in a system chain then you can get the best of both worlds

the ’tubes in dacs’ discussion is a microcosm of the above historical mega-shift in high end hifi audio over the past several decades

it works, but as always, it depends on skill in implementation, knowledge of what works with what, and of course, the type/flavor of sound one is aiming for in their system

I definitely find that tubes sound different than solid state. But in many ways if the DAC is detailed and natural sounding enough, the solution to big holographic sound presentation can depend a lot on speaker placement and phase correctness (if that is a word). 
In my own experience speaker placement and proper phase had a better impact on the nature of the overall sound of my system than changing amps or source. Amp and source changes can have a significant impact don’t get me wrong. But for holographic presentation the location of your speakers in the room should not be discounted. 

I am a big fan of digital music and I have heard very very serious systems where digital sounded darn great. I have a feeling a lot of it has to do with the speakers and crossover as well as the quality of the DAC and less to do with whether there were tubes in the amp. 
Having said that my tube amp sounds a lot better than my ss. 

Ralph, if my Burson sounds better than that Chinese whatever you will pay for both, agreed ? If not, I will pay for both.

Digital source+tube preamp+Class D amp= very good combo.