Buffers in active xovers: opamps or tubes?

[piecor]

Dear forumers,

I have a two way electronic crossover which is based on the LM4562 opamp, it's a 12db/oct design (ESP P09 board):

imput buffer --> crossover --> output buffer with volume pot on the lowpass

I bought a chip tube buffer on the ebay, basically a clone of the Musical Fidelity buffer, a cathode follower with almost 1 dB of gain. I bypassed the input buffer and it seems that the sound is much better compared with the opamp.

I searched the internet to understand whether tubes are better than opamps in the buffers. There are several different opinions on the subject.

I wonder whether there is a scientific reason to prefer tubes or opamps, or it is just context dependent.

Best
Pierre

 

[DougL]

My personal belief is that implementation is more important here.

I would never buy a 741 op amp for any audio application.

I would never use a 12AX7 as a follower.

The Heretical is an example of a tube buffer that has good design.
The B1 is a FET buffer that works well.
Lynn Olson reports that Video op amps sound good in one preamp he is aware of.

Good designs have stable circuits, good power supplies, low distortion, adequate current for the load, class A operation.

Doug