op
ya know, with enough vino, even crappy russkie rectifiers will sound just fine...
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.
Showing 11 responses by jjss49
i still have quite a stash of nice old stock 5ar4/gz34 (uk holland japan) so if folks are desperate for a few of them i may be able to assist, just pm me... only in usa or canada please - i am not currently using gear that runs these... i had accumulated quite a few these from the 90's and 00's when i was running my wavelength cardinal se amps (one in each mono block) so being the hoarder i am i stocked up way back then |
@rodman99999 ’s point is the key one here, as far as i am concerned - when rectifiers fail, they usually do some ancillary damage to the circuit, big or small - so to me the most compelling case for these old stock 5ar4 is their tremendous durability... i myself went through a period using dan wright’s modded cd players, which in turn use his sweet sounding outboard power supply based on the 5ar4 rectifier... these were initially shipped with the grim sovtek 5ar4, two of which failed over the course of the first 12-18 months, and i got tired of the smell of electrical components burning, then shipping to darn ps back to dan in washington for repairs to the pcb
|
not sure what unit/gear you are using, but this doesn't seem right... might be your amperex rectifier is bad the sovtek 5ar4's are grim, compared to properly working uk or dutch real deal ones (my experience from modwright gear/tube power supplies, wavelength, cary, primaluna amplifiers) would say it is definitely worth your trouble to try another one |
let’s not overthink this and get into trivia regarding these excellent old stock rectifiers metal base/fat bakelite base/narrow bakelite base 4 notch/7 notch/smooth plates dark/shiny flashing, seam top, square top if they are real deal uk, holland made ones from the 60’s-70’s-early '80's and then, japan made ones from early to mid 80’s they are excellent, reliable, will last a lifetime in hifi gear if the tube is properly and strongly functioning, with plenty of getter flash sonic differences among the generational variants are somewhere between non existent to truly minor, more having to do with specific tube to tube variation/use history than to the generation of production all, and i mean all, are superior to modern russian chinese or slovakian product |
poor noob being led down primrose path... yep, go for that metal base early dutch 5ar4 for a grand, oh, and pay up for a 4 notch plate blackburn as a back-up, but gotta be f32 in acid lettering... here is the link to the head-fi rectifier shoot out ... https://www.head-fi.org/threads/dubstep-girls-massive-5ar4-5r4-5u4g-rectifier-review-comparison-rectifer-tube-rolling-thread.694525/ ... note the exclusive use of headphones and woo headphone amps, which can roll entirely different rectifiers (not just 5ar4’s), so these are not exactly circuits designed to use the strongest spec 5ar4 over 5u4, 5r4 and others of significantly lower spec... wonderful what the old hands do to the new guy... sometimes we should check whether our own egos do a disservice to others new to the hobby here seeking guidance - well maybe our op is made of money... by the way there is a thread here on $20,000 cables... 😂 |
