Using solid state rectifiers on Cary SLI80 Amplifier

Hoping not to run this into the ground I have a little more to say. The observations I reported in the last post remain correct to the extent that I’m meaningfully able to get the points across.  It’s obvious that everything is tighter and attack, especially for percussive sounds is quite noticeably sharper. The bottom line, though, after listening to many different pieces of music, other changes accompanying what sounded like improvements in clarity started surfacing. Upper mid and higher frequencies have become more sharp to shrill which doesn’t appeal to me. Some may prefer this sound, especially those experiencing upper frequency age related hearing loss (I’m one of those people but now wearing hearing aids). For me, those changes that I like are are not enough to trump the more laid back sound that I’ve become habituated to so, for the time being at least, I’ll stick to stock sound of the SLI80. Thanks to each of you who helped me get to this point. 

The bottom line, though, after listening to many different pieces of music, other changes accompanying what sounded like improvements in clarity started surfacing. Upper mid and higher frequencies have become more sharp to shrill which doesn’t appeal to me.

@broadstone
When you make changes like this, you’re dealing with a set of compromises and you may have upset the apple cart. I find that good solid state rectifiers are better because you can support heavy bass passages better since the power supply sags less. But I’ve also seen rectifiers affect the sound since often solid state devices can make ’diode noise’ (which is actually caused by a resonance between the inductance of the power transformer and the capacitance in the junctions of the rectifiers; this can take a bit of work to snub the noise effectively) which can increase the IMD of the amp (resulting in harshness). In this regard, the HEXFRED rectifiers are some of the best we’ve heard but even they can have noise issues.

FWIW, when you google Yellow Jacket rectifier, all the hits are a bit sparse on information. This leads me to suspect that they employ silicon rectifiers, which are the mostly likely to have noise issues. So I would not write off solid state rectification until you’ve done more research. In effect, trying the Yellow Jackets, not liking them and then giving up on solid state rectifiers is akin to trying out a tube amplifier, finding you don’t like it and then give up on all tube amps. There’s a lot more than meets the eye with rectifiers!

op - you have evidently talked to cary before to get biasing advice, why not ask them on the ss rectifier question?

i always treat the maker of x gear as the first port of call when it comes to how to use it, mod it, fix it etc etc... few will know better than the folks who designed it and built it

i haven’t read through the number of replies already (but i am responding to your op), so apologies if this particular reply is late and unnecessary at this point

Yes, jss, during the same conversation with Cary I asked about the ss diodes as a substitute for the 5U4’s. The response was similar to the bias question; they recommended against it for reasons of potential reliability and longevity compromise. Atmasphere, I agree that abandoning an idea simply because of one or several of its outcomes didn’t go completely as desired  can be a mistake. Also, even though I hadn’t thought of a noise factor, it’s possible that substantially  increased noise could result in my having written it off as strident. Also, although hearing aids have vastly improved my listening enjoyment, they can also play tricks with certain frequencies. Anyway, before I give up on the idea I will look into the HEXFRED suggestion although a bit more involved than a simple plugin.