Which one produces a bigger change... changing a rectifier tube or tubes on my DAC?


Trying to see which tube upgrade to do first on my Modwright Oppo UDP205. Tubes on the DAC or rectifier tube? At the moment Im using Sylvania on DAC and a 5R4-GY on rectifier from Andy at Vintage Tube. Any recommendations would be great. Thanks.
deanshias

Showing 1 response by brownsfan

@deanshias, I have a modwright Sony HapZ1ES which shares which your Oppo the 6922 based output.  It is hard to answer your questions because both the rectifier and the 6922s can make a significant impact on the sound of the unit.   It really comes down to tube selection. 

This is the best rectifier I have tried so far in the PS 9 power supply. 
https://sophiaelectric.com/collections/274b-5u4g/products/pages-se-aqua-274b

Over the years I've tried a large number of rectifier tubes including the one you are using and that Sophia blue glass 274B (which in this case is made to be a drop in replacement for 5U4) beats them all by a large margin.  Next best was the Canadian Westinghouse 5U4 which is now unobtainable.  I agree with lowrider57 in general about rolling rectifiers, but this Sophia tube is different.  It is not a tweak.  The Sophia tubes are expensive and worth every penny in my estimation.  

My preference for the 6922 tubes is the 60's halo getter Mazda 7308 tube.  It beats the well regarded NOS Telefunkens in my system.  I got those from Brent Jesse.  Brent describes the Mazdas as similar to the NOS Amperex but with better dynamics.  If you try the Mazdas, be aware that they have a definite burn in period.  Don't make any judgments on them until they have 50-100 hours.  Mine sounded pretty flat at first and I almost sent them back, then they just opened up beautifully.   Gorgeous, glorious sound in my system!