John Phillips wrote:

On 2006-09-09, Eeyore wrote:
Laurence Payne wrote:
Don't we know how to make a transparent DAC yet?

We know how to make ones that measure so well that they must surely be sonically
blameless yet certain ppl insist they differ still.

Some ppl even say they're better when a toob is used after the DAC !

This configuration always fascinates me. If the DAC isn't (sufficiently)
transparent then putting a valve (tube) in series with it cannot make the
combination transparent.

Sssshhhh ! Don't tell anyone ! No amount of science was involved in the observation.


Yet sometimes I see the T word used to describe
"better" in this context.

Yes.


(Note, before the deluge starts, that I am not commenting on anyone's
sonic taste. Merely commenting on the words sometimes used to describe
that taste.)

I've spent some time in rec.audio.tubes to try and establish what this is all about.
It's quite clear that the 'toobies' believe that added colouration from vacuum tubes
equals 'higher fidelity' ( because they like the sound ).

What they are confusing this with is their preference for an intentionally flawed but
entirely pleasnt and relatively benign form of distortion. Nothing wrong with their
listening preference but the presentation of this as inherently superior is utterly
bogus.

Graham