Is it worth it? Only you can be the judge of that. EL34 are very musical, and for the type of music you listen to they match up. Mullard and TAD are not bad options. A lot of people like the gold lion KT77 (EL34) as well.
It won’t be a significant change but it is noticeable. The stock tubes aren’t great, especially the preamp tubes. I’d replace those first and then power tubes.
Spend all your money.
Apply this to most of our careers & retirement.
This feels like a marketing post by the company.
They’re pricey monoblocks. Not sure what else to say. You’ll probably just hear how there is just as much power and low distortion to be had in newer class d kits or by companies for a fraction of the price of these amps. Good luck defending $26k vs $1,200 in cost.
All technology has improved over time. You can scale this to computers, phones, audio/video, cameras etc.
That said you can find high end amplifiers from decades past restored or maintained that still sound amazing. They won’t be as reliable and improvements in components, headroom, distortion, etc. usually are better in the more modern designs.
With integrated this effect gets much more pronounced. Since many of the manufacturers are cramming all the things in the box, making a Swiss Army knife if you will, you may be more prone to failures and certainly the phono stage and DAC will edge towards obsolescence.
Still, they can sound great. I’d easily jump on a older model Pass INT (he excludes DACS and phono), a Luxman, or an Integrated tube amplifier from years back. I’d aim to exclude the other stuff like phono and definitely a DAC (as you mentioned).
One persons opinion.
Not unpopular. It’s a lifestyle product more than a hifi or home theater speaker. I’d buy a sonos 10/10 times for the type of application these products provide.
A good set of active speakers with HDMI ARC is where I think all purpose hifi/home theater could be headed.
I think it does become a neurosis. Then again, some people are into cars, watches, golf, clothes, travel, antiques, etc. and spend a fortune on those things.
I’m at a point where I don’t care about the car I drive and would rather have that equity into my hifi rig. Maybe that’s crazy, but it’s where I’m at.
The nice thing is you can buy large speakers. You don’t need to.
Some thing’s to consider:
Use DSP. There are a range of ways to implement this. REW and DIRAC are options. For not a big investment you can really tune things to your specific space and room issues.
Room Treatment, Quadratic, Skyline Diffusers and Absorption. Not as partner friendly outside of listening room scenarios.
If I had 18ft ceilings I’d probably get a full range speaker with subs and dial it in with DSP.
Reviewers celebrate everything like it’s a miracle.
And all of these guys review a wide range of stuff. The difference is the companies they partner with send free speakers to them. It’s marketing 101.
Examples of highly reviewed esoteric brands: Volti, Pure Audio project, Fleetwood, Gershwin, early Buchardt, kits like CSS, and the list goes on. It isn’t always KEF, BW, and Sonus Faber. I actually appreciate the YT guys more since they cover more affordable gear than the likes of Absolute sound and Stereophile.
It’s always gonna be a good review though. Know that going in.
The Psvane CV181 or the RCA red plate were good IIRC. Check “A British audiophile” on you tube. He does a good breakdown on the Willsenton and upgrade path.
You can tune the amp pretty warm and smooth. Should be no harshness.