Fake tubes can do more nice sound?

Some days ago I had to test a very nice Philips micro system, named MCD908. The amplifier has a tube preamplifier. You can even see the tubes through a small window on the front panel. And it comes to my mind: I saw something same a decade ore mores ago.
In the early 1990’s there was a lot of audiophile products. The CD players were very expensive, and lot of hifi guys wanted a very special to itself. I met that time a special one: a Luxman CD player with tubes.
The design of the CD player was very stylish: it was a small window on the front, and you could see the tubes through that small piece of glass (or plastic, I don’t remember). Every audiophile tech geek thought, that this tubes are working right before of the analogue output, to make the CD player’s voice warmer, more like “tube”. But the true was, that tubes were just a simple optical tuning for the eyes. They weren’t work with the audio signal at all.
You don’t believe me? Just visit Luxman’s website today: you can see, that the company today also producing CD players, and tube amplifiers. Ok, today there are no tube CD player in the range.
History sometimes repeats itself: not long ago I met a new Philips DVD micro, named MCD908. Very nice design: real wood speakers, massive aluminium front panel with a small window on it. And find out, what you can see behind the window? Yes, some very “audiophile” tubes.
The micro has two parts: a DVD player and an amplifier. The connection between them is a cable same like an IDE HDD cable. I think the signal flow is very digital between the two components, coz the amplifier and the DVD player digital too. (The amplifier is a D class digital amplifier). Then what are the tubes do?
I think nothing. This is a very same optical tuning, which was used by Luxman 15 years ago. The more interesting: the tubes in the MCD908 even shine. But the shine is coming from some red LED-s. The Philips even takes care, that when someone turning on the micro system, the LED-s start to shine just gradually.
Ok: the sound of this DVD micro system is excellent, as excellent, as the Luxman CD player’s sound was 15 years ago. Maybe the tube are the symbol, that those companies take care about the sound quality in that world, where most of the company just care profit and turnover.