effect of tubes in cd players

i wish i could quantify the word small. i will try to explain it in two ways.

consider qualitative terms such as small, large, salty, sweet, as thresholds.

basically subjective in perception, a difference which is mall has to exceed some expectation in one's mind, whence hearing it any difference exceeding it is gretaer than small.

that is, one must first perceive a differnce between two instances of sonic reproduction but consider it below some expected difference which in a personal sense constitutes your idea of small.

this may be very vague. i will try another approach.

if iam listening to two 12ax7 tubes and hear a slight difference but am indifferent as to preference, that difference is surely small.

newbee, you are right in your observation that one person's large can be another's small, but it certainly defies logic how that could happen.

i hope i have shed some light on the subject rather than be confusing.

i can sum up my philosophy: a difference (is perceived) which makes no difference (it doesn't matter to the perceiver) is no difference ( will not motivate one to take an action)

>>i wish i could quantify the word small<<

Piece of cake. Take a person who allegedly writes magazine reviews. For argument's sake let's, for grins and giggles, use somebody posting in these threads. Now add up all of his/her meaningful posts. That is a stellar example and definition of small.

I enjoy cheesecake.

I'll assume this makes no difference since all readers will be indifferent.

I prefer german style cheesecake rather than new york style. Let me assure you the differences are NOT small.

Generalizations cannot be made on this topic IMO, any more than generalizations about SS outputs. It is very dependent on the design. Most tube designs have poorly designed power supplies and distribution, not to mention poor parts selection, so they appear to have "bloom" or HF roll-off or flabby bass. There is no reason why a tube design cannot sound a LOT like a decent SS design, and can be even better due to better dynamic linearity. It is also very dependent on the AC-coupling capacitors. Many times, it is the capacitors that you hear, not the tubes.

There are a few tubes that just dont perform well in ANY design, but there are the same analogies with op-amps and even transistors....these are the exception, not the rule.