Tube CD players (Jolida 100A tube CD player)

[musicinme]

Anyone currently using a tube CD player? Would like to hear your thoughts on them. Is this a gimmick or do the tubes actually contribute to warming up the sound? Thanks.

[poppachubby]

No gimmick at all. A common set up you may find is the use of a tube buffer before the amp. As you have said, to take the edge off of the harshness that digital can present. Tube dacs are also an alternative.

Firstly, have a look at some reviews of the Jolida...

http://www.audioreview.com/cat/digit...4_1586crx.aspx

Secondly, check out Grant Fidelity. They have several tube CD players you may be interested in. Starting at the same range as the Jolida you've listed and upwards.

http://www.grantfidelity.com/site/ca...be_solid_state

I have no personal experience with a tube CD player but have heard many. Very musical, a great concept. Hope this helps...

[musicinme]

Hi Poppachubby,


Thanks very for the great feedback and references. Much appreciated.

[RGA]

It depends on your budget but the the Grant Fidelity Tube DAC 09 for $300 is a terrific place to start on the cheap. It amazes me that get so much out of it. Granted it is not a CD player - it is a DAC - but if you have a cd player with a digital or coax output - most cd players have one or the other, your cd player will read the disc send the info to the DAC to do all of the conversion.

It can be run as a Solid State dac or a Tube DAC so you can hear the difference. It also has a USB stage on board so you can run music from your computer but it will clean up the grunge. It is also capable of being a tube or Solid state Preamp while also being a DAC. And it is a solid state headphone amp.

And it actually sounds very good to boot. It's not going to beat the better $1000-1500 players out there but then those players don't have preamps and USB capability so....

[blackraven]

I use a hybrid tube DAC from avahifi.com they also have a full tube DAC. Both give a great sound. You might want to consider a tube preamp instead.

[nightflier]

I actually read in a few places that the Grant Fidelity Tube DAC is a giant killer and can easily be modded too. It's one of those items that's always recalled from my memory banks every time I think about spending 3-4x as much on a DAC....

P.S. The price has gone up a tad to $390, but still an excellent value.

[rob_a]

I have used Grant's tube buffer and it is nice, it smoothes out the sound just enough with out coloring your music at all.

Julida and Grant have always had good reviews, so either one would be a good pick.