Well, I have been listening to several recordings through my CD collection and through Spotify on both my Pioneer Elite VSX 91 TXH being used as an integrated amp and using it as a preamp with my Golden Tube Audio SE 100 tube amplifier. In the course of this I have realized I will probably never listen to my receiver without an external amp (probably tube) connected and that the Spotify recordings are junk compared to the CDs I own.
I have listened to CDs and Spotify recordings from the following composers on both amp setups (after giving my tube amp about 30 minutes to warm up) : Gershwin( André Previn Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra , Mesa Music Consort, The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Nicholas Gunn, Keiko Matsui, Debussy (Katie Mahan), Saint-Saëns The Carnival of the Animals (Enrique Bátiz), and a few more... As I stated, the CDs kick Spotify's butt. Spotify sounded muted compared to the quality of the CDs. When I compared the solid state Pioneer Elite amp to the Golden Tube Audio amp it was night and day. I heard things that I had never heard in almost every song. The points which impressed me most were in the mids and highs. This is because I have my CRM-2 speakers and a Sunfire EQ TS 12 hooked up. The sub has its own amplifier and the cutoff on the Sunfire speakers is 95 Hz so I don't feel I should really comment on the lows. The percussion instruments sounded absolutely amazing to me. I could hear the cymbals frequency changes perfectly, I could pick out every note of a chord played on the piano, I could hear the vibrations on the stair drums. To put it lightly, I was impressed. While having all this detail, significantly more than the solid state, it still managed to keep a very warm and smooth sound. I really am not one to describe the sound of things in terms that are commonly known because I just don't have the audiophile vocabulary but I could understand why someone would learn it. I wish I had the ability to explain how nice every single aspect of this amplifier sounds. I will be excited to get some new tubes when I get back and get this into the shop to show off a bit!
Some pictures! I had a desk chair in the ideal spot for these but moved it so you can see the system. Not the best layout but for very temporary living conditions it works. My subwoofer I am using is behind the recliner. As mentioned, the speakers that are connected are the CRM-2 speakers and I have the Golden Tube Amp hooked up to the Pioneer Elite VSX 91 TXH which is being used as a preamp. The laptop is connected through HDMI and the speaker wire being used is AudioQuest Hyperlitz F16.
