I guess…
I want my reproduced music to sound like actual music.
Many people say they want their stereo system to sound like live music I’m not in that camp and you did not say you were either. I want my stereo system to sound good to me. I don’t care whether it sounds like live music or not. If the sound pleases me it’s what I want to hear. Three times in the last couple months folks have said it is the best they have heard. A gentleman with a Marantz 7T and 8B that should upgrade his speakers and two of the regular visitors on our Second Saturday audio gigs.
The rig has tone controls in an external unit that might be hooked up on a tape loop, don’t know. It has an EQ sitting in the entrance foyer not connected. It has tubes, but only 2 in the preamp unless I’m using the tube amps. But the tube amps are just the best sounding of the amps I have, not seasoned with lots of tube flavor like the MC225 we compared to it. The preamp is a hybrid so not much tube to that sound. But when I restore the SP-3A I’ll have more than a handful of tubes in the rig.
I don’t think the DAC has much if any tube sound getting In the way of the music. If it did I doubt it would have been so well reviewed.