Could someone explain to me(dumdum)what a tube buffer is and how it would be integrated into an audio system?
A buffer is basically a circuit which provides a high input impedance and a low output impedance, but generally has no signal gain, i.e. voltage out is equal to voltage in. A tube buffer is just this circuit implemented with tubes and is usually intended to be inserted between a CD player and preamp in order to impart some "tube sound" into the system.
Some examples are Musical Fidelity's
X10 and Decware's
ZBOX.
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