Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions CD Player - CD-A8T, Tube/Solid State HDCD

mdrew:
I understand the question, and never in my life have I heard of a combo amp/CDP in one package. I was ignorant of the fact that one could buy a combination amp/CDP in on package. Pls. give me some names, and my apologies will be fortcoming.

nope, you missed that one. He wasn't talking about a combo unit, he was asking the same thing I did.

To answer mdrew and kcarlile, if you want "tube sound" you do not need a tube source. You only need a tube amp.

kcarlile:

Thanks again for another lucid explanation. Would it be within your capacity to explain what you're talking about. You're giving everyone the impression that your're talking about a combo amp/CDP, and at the same time you're saying you're not. Is it too much trouble to to say what you're talking about?

Or perhaps when rational people explain things so they can be understood, you find it exhillirating to play the chase game. Earlier, I politely asked you for the benefit of the Forum to explain the nature of your comments/queries, but apparently that hasn't sunk in. I'm asking you again to be polite enough to explain answers or comments. Yes, some of us are so thick that we are in need of these explanations.

Way to be condescending and superior at the same time.

Moreover, I wrote a further explanation in the other thread (which you thanked me for).
I didn't ever talk about a combo tube amp/CDP, you're mixing me up with your mixed up impressions of MDrew's comment.

What I'm saying is in the post above your last by Mojo, and I think you're the only one assuming the existance of a combination device.

You don't need a tube amp and a tube CDP to achieve tube sound; it seems to me that that would be redundant. That is what I'm saying, that's what Mojo's saying, that's what Mike is saying.

Spend your money how you want--obviously you're not interested in advice that contradicts what you've heard or read before.

Mike, the basic object of an amplifier(or pre-amp)is to amplify without adding any audible sonic characteristic of its own(the proverbial "straight wire with gain"). If an amplifier doesn't meet that standard, then it doesn't fully qualify as a high fidelity component. Both transistors and tubes act as valves to measure out the amount of power needed, and correct tube design can be competitive with solid state design in achieving audibly flawless amplification. Using tubes doesn't necessarily cause a higher level of second harmonic distortion if a balanced push-pull configuration is used. The tube design would still have 3rd and other odd orders of distortion, but it might have an even higher 2nd order distortion if not designed to minimize it. This is apparent from lab tests on amplifiers, such as those on SoundStage, showing either higher or lower 2nd order distortion, depending on the total design, not whether tubes happen to be employed. As the Stereo Review amplifier test which has been frequently cited illustrates, there's no necessary "tube sound".

Mojo:

This is exactly what I meant to say; the following quote from Mojo:

"I think what you meant to say is that tubes are better mated to higher impedance loads that require "less" current whereas solid state is better suited to lower impedance loads that demand "more" current."

Thank you for making this important correction.