What are the advantages of tubes in a CD Player?

Joe, I heard the Droplet at a Zu Audio sponsored demonstration a couple of years ago. The Droplet sounded much better (smoother and more natural) than the computer hard drive source the Zu guys had previously been using. It was clean, extended and resolving. Pretty good actually. But not warm, rolled off or bloomy in the mids.

I have had a number of CDP over the last two or three years. Started with an Electrocompaniet, then went to a Wadia 861, then to a Audio Aero Capitole mk2 and I just bought an Einstein-The Last Record Player, CDP--which, like the Capitole uses tubes, but not the mini's. It uses 6922's. For me, the odd man out so to speak was the Wadia--in my system it had a lot of glare. The Electrocompaniet was very nice, smooth yet detailed. The Capitole did everything well and the new player is really a nice unit. Like the Capitole in gets you involved, very detailed but no edge. what I really noticed is this player seems to be able to put all the instuments in the correct place. I have played around with the tubes a little and you can notice the difference different tubes can make in the way this player makes music. I really like that you can fine tune the player to suit your music and your system.

The 6922 (6DJ8, 7308) tube along with 12AU7 tubes offer a very nice opportunity to tailor the sound of a player, unlike players that use 6H30 tubes.

Thanks for the insights, Grant!

And, I do agree most emphatically with you; I don't consider the 6H30 as nearly an attractive option than a tube you can roll - 12AX7, 12AU7, 6922, etc. Just about impossible for me to believe a Russian tube can compete with most of what was produced yesterday - or, even today.

Tubes are actually much more ideal for voltage amplification, such as small-signal in a DAC or CDP. Transistors are better at current amplification. The main disadvantage of tubes is the high-voltage and the high output impedance, along with the obvious wear-out factor. Fets can compete with tubes, except that they have temperature sensitivity. If you could keep them extremely cool always, FET's would be king I think.

The high-voltage for tubes must be dealt with using transformers or coupling capacitors. With the advent of the Sonicap Platinum and the V-cap Teflons it is possible to get excellent low-disortion results from good tubes, such as the 12AU7 6922 or cca's. When the power systems and capacitors are well-designed, you have the punch and extension that you get with transistor outputs combined with the smoothness, imaging and detail of good tubes.

Not all designs deliver this however. It's like asking if transistor amps are better than tube amps. Depends on the design and parts choices. There is more to design than just the circuit design and whether it uses tubes, transistors or FET's.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
Manufacturer