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In Reply to: RE: Anyone compare these? posted by Winston Smith on October 29, 2016 at 12:31:11
Here's my take.A rectifier's job is to produce DC. Which we certainly don't want to re-produce. And thus can't hear.
It is my belief that the only audible difference - between good valve rectifiers of the same type - can be the variance in voltage drop, (because this affects the total storage energy of the PSU.)
IIRC Jim McShane thinks so, too!
More? All valve rectifiers have serious Peak Inverse Voltage (PIV) safety limits, of most importance when we switch our valve amp's off. This severely limits the amount of PSU capacitance we can use downstream of them.
Given the availability of SR SS diodes and the immense potential advantage that HV PSUs have in total storage energy (0.5C X the square of the supply voltage), and the audible advantages of high storage PSUs, I can see no advantage in limiting that storage with a VR.
When we were rebuilding my pair of LEAK St20s back in the 1990s my experience with the available GZ34s was very disappointing. Cheap ones failed quickly, Mullards were $$$$, ......
So we used Soft Recovery (SR) solid state diodes - snubbed as well - and lots of by-passed capacitance, pushing ripple way down and giving very satisfying slam and short term headroom.
And, it left space for an extra PSU cap, too! ;-)
I have not had to replace them, for over a decade. I will go to Schottkys, if I ever need to.
So, if they really NEED replacing, and you don't want to build an SS diode bridge, buy the most reliable VRs for the money.
With the rest? Buy some more recordings, or put the money into something for the wife.
Warmest
Tim Bailey
Skeptical Measurer & Audio Scrounger
Edits: 10/29/16Follow Ups:
Interesting idea, but I must confess I've got a boatload of these valves from over the years, and so I'll just stick with the stock ModWright PSU configuration (for now at least.) Nevertheless, Timbo, I can certainly see your point.
In your experience, you do not believe that valve 'rectumfiers' will have a significantly different sound quality if they have basically identical VD? And that types like the Mullatd classics (metal base, Blackburn origin, etc.) are simply less prone to VD?
(Hell, with all these acronyms, it sounds like tubes frequently get STDs.....) ;-)
Thank you for the very fine post and advice, Timbo.
Hope you are feeling good and doing well, mate.
All the best!
WS
(Hell, with all these acronyms, it sounds like tubes frequently get STDs.....) ;-"
If the tubes are getting STDs,the lady or ladies must be using their husband's tube stash to pleasure themselves because they can't afford the magazine products?
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" H. L. Mencken
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