2. amps-preamps
  3. 1406847902

What does a Hexfred do?

I've seen some threads here, as well as some advertisements touting the benefits of Hexfred diodes in the power supply. Upscale Audio seems to think they're useful in the power supply of the Cary SLI 80. I'm always contemplating tweaks for my Cary V12, so I thought I'd ask: What do Hexfreds do, is there any sonic benefit, and if so, what is it?

Thanks!
grimace
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,577 posts
 
HEXFRED rectifiers are about the fastest rectifiers and the softest recovery- just about the closest you can get to a tube rectifier, without the voltage drop of a tube rectifier.

We've been using them for about 20 years.

Sonically they sound smoother. This is because they make less commutation (also known as 'switching') noise for the reasons mentioned above.
Post removed 
dweller's avatar
dweller
3,735 posts
 
Saw this on YouTube a few days ago. Talks about Schottky diodes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXEyCf1P0UU&t=2s
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,394 posts
 
Amplitude of the spikes produced by rectifier diodes is not as dangerous as the rate of change (dv/dt).  Very narrow spikes will couple to any LC circuit causing ringing, even if inductance and capacitance are extremely small.  Pretty much everything has inductance and capacitance including components like resistors or capacitors, including power supply caps.
Post removed 
More to discover