Music for Tube Amp Listening — Recommendations?

I wasn’t sure whether to post this in the music forum or here, but it sorta seems more hardware-centric....

A hi-fi friend has given me a long-term loan of his early 90’s vintage Cary Signature SLA 70 tube amp, which had been languishing in his basement for many years. I’ve heard lots of tube systems at audio dealers and hi-fi shows, but this is the first time I’ll have the chance for an extended at-home audition of that classic old-school valve amplifier sound. I love my Musical Fidelity A300 integrated amp, but it’s fun to try something different!

**Without getting into debating tube vs. SS or the pros and cons of this particular amp or any argumentative stuff like that,** I wonder if you tube guys have any favorite recordings that you feel shine or otherwise benefit via tube-amp playback?

Slightly silly topic, I know, given all the variables of amplifier design, etc. — so feel free to mock the premise of this thread — but I thought it might be fun to solicit a few playlist suggestions as I sit in the dark staring at the groovy orange glow and wondering what to play...

 

If you have a tube amp try this, you'll love it:

http://www.amazon.com/Silver-Pharao...8&qid=1464197681&sr=8-2&keywords=pamela+sklar

 

My tube amp really likes Max Richter from sleep

 

50's and 60's jazz. Like this



or this:

 

Steely Dan, Donald Fagen.

 

Jazz, as noted above
Fleetwood Mac - Rumors
Steely Dan

 

Just about anything recorded before 1970 was done with tubes throughout. I don't recommend re-issues most don't compare to the originals.

 

The music has no idea whether you are playing it through solid state, tubes, or a megaphone.

I honestly have never heard of "tube friendly" music. This is a first.

 

Can't go wrong with Tacet's catalogue--all-tube recordings:

TACET-Website - english »

 

Well, I said go ahead and mock me! I guess I’m either a groundbreaking original thinker or the first moke dumb enough to think this might be a thing.



I know that “tube sound” is a highly controversial, highly debatable topic. The fascinating Wikipedia entry on the subject says so. On the other hand, there’s a lot of people (including Steve Hoffman) who wax lyrical about the euphonious qualities tube gear can bring to music playback. Obviously that mostly means music playback in general, but does it really seem crazy that tubes might bring out the best in certain kinds of recordings? That same Wikipedia article notes:

The distortion content of class-A circuits (SE or PP) typically monotonically reduces as the signal level is reduced, asymptotic to zero during quiet passages of music.[15] For this reason class-A amplifiers are especially desired for classical and acoustic music etc. cf. class-B and AB amplifiers, for which the amplitude of the crossover distortion is more or less constant, and thus the distortion relative to signal increases as the music gets quieter.

I’m just excited to be able to live with a tube amp for awhile, to see what all the fuss is about.

 

My old pal Murray really opened my ears in the late 1970s when he played me Belafonte: Live at Carnegie Hall through his carefully assembled system including tube electronics I don't remember, Quad electrostatics and a Decca moving coil cartridge.

 

I'd say listen to what you enjoy with your Musical Fidelity. That should prove interesting.

 

Just play the music you normally enjoy with your usual system with the MF A300 and report back. Who knows you might be a convert as I was from a fairly high end SS amp (Conrad Johnson) to an actually much lower price considerably lower power tube power amp.

 

Ha, I will give you credit, you are taking it like a mensch.

Don't get caught up in audiophile mental masturbation. Listen to the SAME damn music you would on any other day.

 

You know what is funny??? Solid state is "exotic" to me.

 

Get some nice laid back style Jazz records. Bill Evans is a great suggestion.

But you need some nice vocals. Besides instruments, tubes can work magic on vocals.

As far as female vocals and great reproduction values, Diane Krall is the old fart's camp of audiophiles go-to recording artists.