Tube amps and 6XX are a great match.

Nice.

What’s your budget?

I still listen to mine. They sound great.

Any recommendations other than tung-sol for 6SL7? I have a pair of those but feel they are a little too hot in the treble region for my liking. Thus, I went back to the stock tubes.

I also have a stock tube in the center 6SN7 slot.

I ran tung sol EL34s for a while, but went back to Psvane KT88 Classics. I also have the CV181s and stock 6SL7.

I found the EL34 lacking in the low end and just wasn’t enjoying the sound. It’s possible that I haven’t run them long enough to break in. I should pop them back in and give another listen.

That said, I’m very pleased with my current Psvane tube compliment feeding my Buchardt s400 MKII.

Don’t fight it. You’re around my age and now that some of my parental responsibilities are less financially taxing I started spending money on myself.

I have a I’m the last 3 years I’ve gone as301 to CXA81 to Willsenton R8 to Kinki Studio EZ-M1+ on the amp front and just picked up a set of Buchardt s400 MKII.

It all sounds great and I’m having a blast listening to music, new and old.

I ripped most of my collection to FLAC and some MP3 years ago. I got rid of my CDs that were sitting unused for years about 4 years ago when I moved.

I used Plex to manage my collection for many years, but recently tried Roon and I’m hooked. It works great with Qobuz and my collection. I’m also really digging the Arc app when I’m out and about. It works great with Apple CarPlay. Much better than the native Qobuz app IMO.

I also got back into vinyl during the COVID apocalypse to scratch my physical media itch.

I see CDs making a bit of a comeback, but I’m not going down that road again I’m content with streaming and vinyl.

There is the newness factor, but also the experience factor. The more i change my equipment the more I’m becoming dialed into what I like.

For example, I always thought I liked a warmer bass heavy sound with some treble sparkle (V shape). As my equipment evolved/improved I’m finding I like clarity, detail and a rich neutral to slightly warmish mid range and a more neutral bass response and am more treble sensitive than I realized.

I’m also learning about system synergy. These things are subtle, but noticeable. I recently picked up some new speakers that hit the mark for me and I’m listening to more music than normal. I listened to a lot before.

However, when I hooked those speakers to my tube amp they weren’t getting it done for me the way many older speakers do. So instead of selling the old ones I’m keeping them for the synergy. I like to switch out what I’m listening to for my main system every 3-6 months to keep things fresh.

I have a CXA81 with a CXNv2. While 2 pieces it makes for a nice stack and sounds great. It doesn’t have a phono stage, but most built in phono stages at these price points aren’t great IMO.

I’d consider adding a CXNv2 before buying the Yamaha in this scenario. While I love me some Yamaha I’m not sure your making a leap in SQ over the CXA81.

Kallax

My first foray where the system my parents had in the 70s. No clue what type of amp, speaker or turntable it was. But it sounded great and so did the headphones.

I blew out those speakers in college in the late 80s and replaced them with some Polk Audio bookshelf speakers I bought off a frat brother for $100 who had a gambling problem. They were $300 speakers at the time. I also had a Sony integrated and 5 disc CD changer and double cassette deck all purchased with summer job money. That setup got me through most of the 90s.

I don’t remember what happened to that system but we didn’t really have a place for it our small house with 3 little kids running around. At the point the only setup we had was a Panasonic mini system with a CD player and cassette deck in the dining room.

The other setup I remember was a Roku music streamer and then a squeeze box streamer I hooked up to Altec Lansing computer speakers and subwoofer.

We moved to a bigger house and I got a Sonos setup. That was nice. I had a Sonos amp connected to a set of Polk Audio tower speaker, M70 I think. I thought it sounded great. Also, had some Play 1s on the covered deck paired in stereo mode that sounded really good as well.

Around 2010 I started getting into headphones. First with Grado S80, then V-Moda m100 complete contrast in sound. I then picked up Sennheiser 6XX and a DarkVoice tube amp and that was my main rig for a while.

Kids are all out of the house and I finally have my own space and started developing a proper setup. First was a Yamaha as301 and Klipsch rp160m speakers and a Raspberry Pi streamer. Then added a Project Evo TT. The Yamaha and Klipsch now hold things down for my son in his college apartment.

My main system for a while has been Cambridge Audio CXA81/CXNv2 stack with Triangle Comete EZ speakers. I added a Willsenton R8 tube amp about a year ago and wow.

A few weeks ago I picked up a set of Buchardt S400 Mk II speakers and a Kinki Studio EX-M1+ amp. The EX-M1+ Is a different sound. Super detailed and leans slightly cool compared to the CXA81 and R8. Still deciding if I like it or not. The S400 MKII are monster speakers. So much bass in a small package. No need for my dual RSL 10 s subs when running the hose speakers.