will
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Morgan
I like a lot of music too, though I tend to listen most to jazz either from, or based in the more lyrical stuff from the 50s/60s along with a fair bit of EMI stuff; bosa nova and women singers from Peru, Brazil, and Colombia; simple early classical like Jordi Savall, and the many interpretations of Bach violin and cello; folk music from around the world, rock from The Band and Young to Morphine and Massive Attack........
My room is treated but still live which I like for the most part, contributing to the live player in the room feel.
I can't separate detail from musicality, finding them part and parcel of an enjoyable musical experience. Micro detail contributing to subtleties of texture and air.... macro helping define the instrument sound and place in space.....individual character and focus. And the combo giving us all that other cool stuff like ambience conveyed from the recording to my room, the finger hit part on a classical guitar or bass string, or hand drum, the dynamic and varied vibrations of a cymbal and so on......
Sound stage is really important to me too, but I don't sacrifice musicality for detail, playing within the balance that makes it all sound like real music is my goal. Does the bass have articulate deep vibes that you feel? And is the sound of the wood there, the space between the wood....the bow hair or finger on string.... or the subtle string hits on the neck; the sax with air and brass hitting you in the low gut.....but also the key sounds and the subtle sounds of the reeds; each of the drums like real drums in the room, the locations clear but expressing all the character of the wood, head, hand/stick and air. Seems like this is the game to me, and requires a balance of detail, warmth, body, depth, weight, and dynamics.
I agree that with the level of revelation this gear brings, the choices we make for cables, front end, feet, weights, spikes and all have a big impact for me, and play bigtime into the sound equation.
My main music is AIFF files via PureMusic played from a tricked out 2010 Mac Mini, to a Tranquility DAC with an amazing new output stage, and the Torii into Ziegler HR-ONEs (radial front firing hybrid). No Pre.
I can't say how this stuff compares to your room, speakers or front end. For me, I get listening fatigue if the low bass is too heavy, likely contributed to by remaining room stuff. So my preferences go to the resolving side of things, but without hardness. I would say I like warmth, but seek balance, neutrality and definition for a sound that seems natural to me.
I have a hard time saying which tubes are my favorite as there are so many ways to find synergy, and I have a lot of tubes to play with at this point from steady exploration.
Right now I am using RCA OC2 (a touch more transparent to me than Raytheon), 80's Sylvania OA3-ST (less "warm" and in my system/room, more neutral than early STs) Cryo'd Ruby fat bottle EL-34 (from Cryoset...though a little less texture than Winged-C, a similar fresh and open midrange, but better bass definition... Also similar balance as JJ 6AC7, but not as dark and dense) early 50s RCA 5U4GB (interesting straight/tall bottles with internal construction similar to RCA 5U4G STs, no bottom mica and a lot of glass there...very real sounding tube to me) and like Walt, I am currently enjoying some Mullard ECC88/6DJ8s. Mine are pulls/used so I did not suffer any burnin with them. They are Blackburn A-frames looking like 60s or 70s and for a warm tube, seem nicely balanced to me with excellent articulation and inner detail.
So I have segued away from stock altogether. Edit:My stock tubes were Raytheon OC2, early RCA OA3-ST, Ruby 5U4G-ST, Winged C EL34, and 6N1Ps. Once you get your sound sorted out, it is easier to point more toward tubes that might help accomplish your taste goals from within the context of your system/room, and by comparing the sound quality between different tubes. Those 6AC7s are real slow burners too! They will keep coming out for 120-150 hours if they are like my set. But you will be wading through caps and wire burnin too, so it will all work out.
Exciting time to come!
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