DACurious…

Quick question: There's been some talk about the Yaqin tube buffer in the forum, so I figured I'd ask. Might there be a way to use a buffer to tweak the sound of the RR 2150's USB input?

Of course the USB is a digital signal and the buffer is an analog device, so any use of the buffer will have to be after D/A conversion.

Even if one were to manage to successfully route a digital signal through this buffer, the data would not have been altered.

One would appear to be left with two options: replacing the 'pre-out/main-in' jumpers with the buffer or using the tape out/in loop. The first option means all signals are affected all the time, the second option means that one could listen to a source directly or routed via the buffer.

Personally I regard such 'tweaks' as dubious.

Gotcha, bb4tb. Thanx a lot. Not even remotely interested in tweaking the other sources…just been using the USB input more than usual lately. For clarification's sake, though, are you saying buffer claims are not all they're cracked up to be? Always interested in hearing as many viewpoints as possible…

I agree that a tube buffer isn't for digital signals, but as for it affecting all analog signals all the time, that's what mine does and that's what I bought it for. If I had an integrated unit I'd certainly mount it in the pre-out/main-in path. For me the tube buffer is certainly "all it's cracked up to be".

I've been nagging Peter T about including a vacuum tube output stage to their preamp processors for years now - maybe he'll get sick of me and incorporate this into a future design.

Personally, I think it would be a major selling point.

I have all my tube buffers connected between my preamp and power amp so all signals are affected in my system. Like you, the tube buffers are "all it's cracked up to be" to my ears. As long as I'm happy and my family is happy with my system, that's what really matters.

Slbenz

Thanx, gents. Turns out that more warmth is only a concern (albeit a pretty minor one at this point) with respect to the USB input. My CD player's a Marantz, pretty well-known for a warm sound signature. No complaints whatsoever about the RR 2150's phono stage; for the last two hours I've had on The Kinks double-LP The Kink Kronikles. The combination of seemingly disparate elements—rockin' bass and drums, folksy singing and guitar, music-hall piano, ceremonial brass—just comes across beautifully. Just in case anyone's looking, though, there's someone on Head-Fi trying to get rid of a Yaqin at a bargain price; it's a dual model rather than a single.