Yes... "fat", "organic", "warm", "fuzzy"... call it "Harold" if you want, but that's the reason musicians play through tube amps. Bro's got an apartment full of SWR and Ampeg gear - all tube. I played guitar (back when I was guitarded) through a custom Johnson tube amp... musicians play through tubes to get that sound - if you plugged straight into a board and recorded in Pro Tools, it would sound lifeless and sterile.
But once the sound is captured... once you've got the sound you want, and the glass master is made and CDs are pressed from it, you don't want to add another layer of "Harold" at the listening stage - especially because tubes don't all sound alike, they deteriorate with age (they're glorified light bulbs, really), they sound different at different temperatures, humidity levels, barometric pressures, with different levels of estrogen in the room... all these factors. From CD to speaker, one or two things should shape the sound, the receiver and an EQ.
Bren R.
