oh but it does. i have tried 5 5ar4 / GZ34 rectifiers in my Cary preamp and they all make it sound different.
there are clear winners and losers.
5AR4 rectifier tube question
I am sort of shopping for one or more 5AR4s for a Cary SLP05 power supply because I’d like to have at least one spare and because I’d maybe like to roll two or three ad see if I can hear an improvement or vice versa. I make no claims of knowing much about the vacuum tube game; occasionally I get lucky & stumble on something that really works for me. As far as the 5AR4, I did a hit at Uncle Kevin’s site, and there were some that looked interesting (I am thinking of one in particular, it had a Japanese sounding name that started with a ’M’) but when I click on it, all I get is a picture of Uncle Kevin’s screaming face telling me "not to buy tubes" (later, when I finally took time to read, apparently his tube tester is down).
So I started doing hits on Ebay, and oh my gosh! I was inundated with choices and the variation in prices! Which do I stay away from and which should I be interested in? Would a 5AR4 from Bugera also be suitable for what I’d want to use it for? Could a rectifier tube provide a big sonic upgrade if I spent enough money on it? Can I make a sonic upgrade from what I believe (I haven’t opened up the power supply yet) is the stock EH 5AR4 without breaking the bank? I would be totally good with the $50.00 range and picking up 2 or 3 different ones to play with if those with experience thought I could improve the power supply in that range. If I had to I guess I could go more (the $100.00 range) but I probably wouldn’t be buying too many of them, and I was kind of HOPING not to go much over that.
Anyway, thanks in advance for the input; I always consider it part of my education.
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@avanti1960 I may try that, but in my McIntosh mc30 s all I use are RCA for the power tubes and rectifiers. Have to find another brand of 5U4. Always willing to experiment. |
New Sensor bought the Soviet Block plants, they are not "all the same" as one person mentioned. I have 3 different branded KT88 tubes by their various factories, and they are all quite different. Their flagship brand is based upon Genelex Gold Loin tubes. As for Chinese tubes, it depends upon who is selling them as to quality, and sound too varies by brand, and seller. I don’t know if some sellers are buying factory seconds, knockoffs, or what, but some sellers never disappoint, and some do nothing BUT disappoint. Buying from a North American seller is a good idea regardless of where the tubes were made. NOS can be well used tubes with pins cleaned up to get rid of marks from when they were inserted and pulled that still measure within specs. EBay is a dangerous place to buy tubes, though I still do at times. I tend to stick with Gold Lion for power tubes, 6SN7S by Linlai, their E-6SN7 is amazing, but buy from a reputable source. You’ll pay heavily for them, but if you go low you’ll likely pay for virtually nothing, noisy tubes suck. As for rectifiers, who makes them does matter, noisy tubes will put noise on your DC, but is it the design, or just a bad tube? Furthermore in my DS2, Don Sachs told me about a mod he did with a rectifier and wanted me to try it and confirm his findings. It more than doubled the current, though the tubes didn't come close to the maximum capability of the tube he had been using as a rectifier. Well, whether they needed the extra current or not, it made a real improvement. So, some manufactures over built their tubes, and may be able to deliver a but more current, which even though it isn't needed somehow tightens things up. So rectifiers are rectifiers and it likely very rarely makes a difference, but if it does, it does. Others may do a slightly better job of rectification, you may get slightly blacker backgrounds. Generally speaking I don't roll rectifiers, but what I do isn't necessarily what you should do. This is a hobby, and if rolling rectifiers seems interesting to you, and you have the extra change, do it! |
’Shouldn’t’ is why this statement is true; in practice the rectifier will affect the sound. This is because the rectifier has a voltage drop across it, which varies according to current draw and from tube to tube (and rectifier tube type as well). Amps designed with a tube rectifier will certainly sound different if a different rectifier is used simply because the B+ Voltage might be changed- if going from tube to solid state the change could be as much as 75 Volts in the power supply (which might challenge existing power transformers, filter caps and the like, so don’t do it...). If the amp were to employ enough feedback it could be able to reject the effects of the rectifier, but no tube amp made can employ the amount of feedback required! So in practice, rectifiers affect the sound, plain and simple. Power tubes and driver tubes probably affect the sound more though... |
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