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Nothing under $20K will get you close to "real."
In fairness I will say there are a few things I haven't heard that might get closer, but in general, well... $ talks. But the alternative is if you can DIY then you can do it for not too much.
I don't even know how I got to where I got to post my original thought. Also, having little if any familiarity with this site, I presently have no clue as to where my post should be.
I have sympathy for your plight, after a few posts and some time on the site you'll get the hang of it. It's worth it to invest a small amount of time to get used to the site, the membership is the classiest on the web, personal attacks and bs is not permitted, everyone gets treated with a modicum of respect. I'm going to move this over to the Starting Block, it's a great thread and I think it will get the attention it deserves over there. They'll be a redirect posted.
The sound of the studio and production is a major part of any playback system. You can try to get around it, but when you do, you're injecting a lot of things that basically make it sound less real in other ways.So, are you ok with the fact that some recordings will be awesome, and others will not be? Some will sound live, some won't.
Part of why older recordings sound so good is that they often made the recordings using Tube equipment, which meant that even order harmonic information was preserved. Recordings made at modern studios are often more transparent and more dynamic, but they lack that amazing tone that older recordings have. Generally because the recordings are done on SS gear that has a very different distortion profile than the older tube equipment did. Which is why, IMO, SS playback systems are often unsatisfying. You start with a recording that was made without an even order dominant distortion profile, then if you play it back on a system without an even order dominant distortion profile, the sound tips over into sterile and analytic. Tube equipment has always sounded good, but having tubes in the system is maybe even more important nowadays than in the past. At least IME.
I'd say that box speakers, especially constant directivity speakers like the Gedlee speakers, will get you the closest to a "live" feel from a dynamics and energy standpoint. On the other hand, open baffle speakers like the Spatial Audio X2 give you a much better sense of scale and acoustic space, but lack the punch and energy that the Gedlees have. Which is best? Pick your poison For me I listen to mostly large scale classical, so OB speakers match that preference perfectly. If I listened to more Jazz or Rock, the Gedlees would be my choice. Both are exceptional speakers, although neither is cheap - maybe I'm posting in the wrong circle....I cannot answer the last part of your question as I am ignorant to this site. However you bring a case in point. If my criteria is "realism" or "accuracy", and a speaker or amp reflects one type of music better over another, than neither of this equipment would be "accurate' to me.
Can you explain why you like tube equipment? Some tubes sound like ss such as the Manley Stingray. The tubed gear I heard at the Las Vegas show was ARC equipment and sounded "real" to me. Other people do not like ARC stuff because of this. Tube "euphoria" I guess is not attained as a result. I don't even now what that is but I cannot get into adjectives such as "warm and rich" as this has no meaning for me. I understand weight, dynamics, timbre, initial transients and decay and this only as it results in "realism". For me now, is why I said I don't care what the topology is as long as it attains realism. I've even heard playback does not make musical sense if not in class A single ended design. I haven't heard to my ears what this is supposed to mean. Ever go to a snobby wine tasting party? I did once. I cannot be in the same room with these people. My one criteria is "does it taste good to me". As I do not want to analyze nuances in wine, I do not want to analyze sound as well. I just need realism. Perhaps it stems from my background and maybe I don't now what I'm missing. To put this in perspective and no disrespect but I've never heard McIntosh stuff sound like I need. Mc stuff sounded mushy to me while others wax euphoric about it all. All I know is to achieve one thing, amp designers miss some other places. If there exists a low power s.e.t that makes music seem real or more real than ss, I'm curious to know what that is. I do not need window rattling bass (every time I see that word I think of fishing and who thought to spell this word as "bass instead of "base"?). As long as i can feel tight bass in my chest, I'm good.
I just did explain why I like tube equipment. It has the proper distortion profile needed to sound good. Most "low distortion" SS amps do it by first stripping out all even order harmonic distortion (relatively easy to do), and then use either local or global feedback to lower the odd order harmonic distortion info. The result is a super clean measuring amp (or preamp) that sounds very clear and transparent, but also a bit artificial from a timbre/tone standpoint. Don't think of tubes adding distortion, think of them as preserving the correct harmonic profile.You can see the same thing with some SS amps, if you want. For example, my First Watt Burning Amp 3 is low distortion, clean, transparent and solid state. It's also fully Class A. But the most interesting feature is that it has a pot on the input board that lets you dial out even order distortion (or dial it back in) at your leisure. The iteration with the even order harmonics intact sounds more natural and correct. For reference, I do not want equipment that is "true to the recording". I want equipment that is "true to life". Tubes may be slightly less transparent that SS, but they sound much closer to what an actual instrument sounds like in real life. For bass, I use speakers that have servo amps powering 4 twelve inch servo subs in an open baffle configuration. The tubes and BA3 only power from about 200hz and up on my speakers. For bass, I'm with you - it needs to be able to smack you around a bit and punch you in the chest when needed. Tubes can't really touch good SS amps in this respect.
You did not grab my brain with your explanation until this post. I asked why you like tubes. You inferred that they have the proper distortion profile to sound good. I did not know what "good" means to you until now.Your premise is "tubes make music sound like real life". So to carry this further: the Arc stuff did sound real to me. Is that because they are tubed base or because of design?
Good tubes need a matching speaker to sound good. One thing that's way too often overlooked is the speaker/amplifier interface. So if you hear a tube amp and don't like it, it might be because it's a bad design. Or it might be that the amp is not matched with a suitable speaker (happens a lot). Part of why designers and engineers like SS amps is because speaker matching is much easier with a good SS amp. So an SS amp is more likely to sound it's best on a wide variety of speakers. A tube amp is not. It needs much more care in matching with an appropriate speaker.
