Quote:
Originally Posted by jdandy
Charles.......Thanks for the update on using the Black Diamond's versus the standard JJ tubes. From what you describe it sounds like the Black Diamond tube may be a more neutral sounding tube than the JJ's.
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You may be right. The JJ High Performance Gold Pins are warmer, undeniably. But as I was listening to Three Dog Night last evening, it occurred to me that the mixing and engineering of the various recordings play into this as well. I noted that, except for the more open sound, I could have said I was still listening to the JJs rather than the Black Diamonds. The bottom was just as strong and impactful, perhaps just as prominent, whereas on the Jeff Beck DVD I played previously the bottom seemed lighter in spots, as if it receded into the background or something; that doesn't carry over to the Three Dog Night CD. DVDs and CD are mastered differently, I think, so that could be another consideration. Also the tracks I played from
The Essential Heart kicked just as much butt with the BDs as with the JJs on the low end, but again, the mix sounds different with the top end seeming to be more prominent than with the JJs, such as guitars sounding more out front or distinct in the mix.
Maybe I'm hearing all these things at once, meaning the difference in tubes and in how recordings vary in their engineering and mixes? The BD's less warm character pulls the upper frequencies away from the bottom ones some, to make a more balanced offering. Or something like that. It may be why the acoustic guitars from the Heart CD sounded so much like the real thing. With that, I'm also hearing these recordings on a relatively new SACD player, another factor; the MCD500 is different from the MCD301 it replaced.