Tubed SACD/DVD player, know of any?

Woodsea · « **on:** 4 Mar 2003, 08:10 pm »

Ok, I think I can live with what I have now...sounds great! But would like the ability to play SACD with tube output. This may be improbable. But I was wondering if anyone has thunk this up before, and implemented it? My xbox does great with my only DVD-A (Mettalica), while the music may not be truely dispersed correctly, it rocked in my little HT today.
Thanks,
Eric
Ooh revamped my HT room and corrected photos

Wayne1 · « **Reply #1 on:** 4 Mar 2003, 08:20 pm »

Xindak Tube SACD Player

Woodsea · « **Reply #2 on:** 4 Mar 2003, 11:26 pm »

Thanks Wayne,
Anyone else know of a player that also plays DVDs.

rtsy · « **Reply #3 on:** 6 Mar 2003, 09:34 pm »

Also from China is the Shanling SACD player w/ tube buffer.
I wonder when Rik Stoet will "Heart" a Marantz SACD player.

Woodsea · « **Reply #4 on:** 6 Mar 2003, 10:09 pm »

Ok, here is my dilemma. That Shanling is sexy as hell! But way out of my league for just a player. What if I were to buy a pre-amp before my H/K that had tubes. There is an AVA thread with a 5.1 unit idea, that is NOT available/engineered.
Do any of you think that it is more logical to have a tube pre-amp than either a tube amp or cd player?
Thanks,
Eric

JoshK · « **Reply #5 on:** 6 Mar 2003, 10:13 pm »

Woodsea,

Take this FWIW, this is just my opinion but tubes aren't the magical answer. In fact if there is a big "tube" sound to the component in quesiton then it will likely NOT be a good component for rock and home theater applications. I have had some tube equipment and SS equipment in both my setups and the only tube equipment that I really like isn't much different from the better SS equipment. If it is then it is no good for HT and no good for rock music IMO.

KevinW · « **Reply #6 on:** 6 Mar 2003, 10:37 pm »

Woodsea,
You could have Modwright convert a Sony or Philips DVD/SACD player to have a tubed output stage. But this would be a music-only mod because it sacrifices the extra channels. Supposed to provide fantastic sound, but the mods also cost about $800.

Regarding Joshk's comment about being a waste of time, don't believe it! Tubes can sound fantastic. Why do people always talk about SS amps as being "tube-like" in their sound? Because tubes are inherently better than SS.

Actually the above comment is kind of a joke on my part... don't listen to anybody's opinion that "tubes/SS is junk" until you hear it for yourself.

IMO, you may want to try a tube integrated amp, because that will really give you the tube sound. There are great integrateds on the market that can be had used, or relatively cheap new. Antique Sounds Labs are excellent, Jolida's are pretty good, and lots of people like the inexpensive Norh SE-9 even though it is somewhat limited in application with only 8 watts.

JoshK · « **Reply #7 on:** 6 Mar 2003, 10:45 pm »

Ok Kevin's comments are way off in terms of intrepreting what I said. I never said tubes are junk. I have a tube pre in my reference rig. Reread Kevo and you'll see what I said is not what you said I said.

KevinW · « **Reply #8 on:** 6 Mar 2003, 10:49 pm »

Okay, I agree that there is some room for interpretation in both our statements, so perhaps I could rephrase my comments into a question. Why do you think tubes are inherently bad for Rock/HT? This does appear to be what you are saying.

I have to say that my experience is exactly the opposite. I think tubes are good for every kind of music or application, although I admit that there is a lack of good tube-based HT gear.

JoshK · « **Reply #9 on:** 7 Mar 2003, 12:07 am »

I am not saying tubes are bad for rock or HT. I am saying tubey equipment would be. Good tube designs and good SS designs are pretty much on par with eachother IMO. These are what to shoot for. What I was trying to convey is that tube equipment is not the cure all, especially when Woodsea's applications seem to be strongly of the HT/rock persuation. Myself I seperated my two systems because I think that the goals of HT and that of music playback are two different beasts which I prefer to tackle seperately. but that is just me.

W.C. · « **Reply #10 on:** 7 Mar 2003, 06:42 am »

This looks interesting and expensive. http://www.fosgateaudionics.com/products/FAP-V1.asp

JoshK · « **Reply #11 on:** 7 Mar 2003, 03:36 pm »

I think I remembering a $4000 stick price for that guy, but I have never heard of anyone actually owning one. Is it just a statement piece or is it in production? Anyone?

W.C. · « **Reply #12 on:** 7 Mar 2003, 06:22 pm »

I think it's in production but you have to buy through their dealers. I haven't heard any discussions about it, but I did see someone that had one for sale on ebay about a week ago. Jim Fosgate makes some really good sounding processors so it might be worth checking out.

Hantra · « **Reply #13 on:** 8 Mar 2003, 03:52 am »

By the way, do you all know who had the FIRST tubed CDP to market?

Our own Scott Nixon. . .

Audio trivia. .

CE · « **Reply #14 on:** 8 Apr 2003, 09:06 am »

Actaully the re incarnated now defunct again Dynaco had a tube CDP. All nonsense. They even had a small window to view the glowing tubes, now that really makes it cool.