|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
67.8.39.61
Hi guys! I'm placing my question here because I just trust my fellow SET amp users to be able to answer this question. I use a Musical Paradise MP-D2 tube DAC. It uses two 6DJ8/7308 type tubes per channel --{I'm using two Russian Voskhod "rocket logo" 6N23P tubes}-- as well as a one Amperex 5AR4 rectifier tube.My question is this, I've had quite a few people tell me that I would not believe the level of sonic improvement I would hear if I switched to using a high-quality Sophia Electric 274B in place of the Amperex 5AR4 tube. What do you guys think? Should I switch to the Sophia Electric 274B tube in place of the Amperex 5AR4?
I really valued all the encouragement and input you guys all gave me when my Mastersound amp needed to be repaired at the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021, so I'm trusting in your input once again! Thanks again guys...
Thetubeguy1954 (Tom)
Central Florida Audio Society -- SETriodes Group -- Space Coast Audio Society
Full-range/Wide-range Drivers --- Front & Back-Loaded Horns --- High Sensitivity Speakers
Edits: 08/09/21Follow Ups:
The reason people have a cult fanaticism around the "super hard" 5AR4s is due to the lower plate resistance in very good 5AR4s. With a DAC you are getting zero benefit from a tube that passes 250ma of current better as you are using a tiny fraction of that.
Tubes are cool, but most people do not know anything about the actual reasons behind great performance.
Relax and enjoy the sound. If your real desire is better performance you should consider Schottky diodes.
Hi Chip!Truth be told I don't know diddly-squat about the technical side of audio, but I have no need to know about the technical side of audio! Why? Because after over 57 years of listening to music I have developed very well-trained ears. This all started on 2/9/64 after I heard The Beatles play on Ed Sullivan. Granted a transistor radio probably would have sounded better than what I heard over the TV that night, but I became a budding avid music lover/audiophile that night!
You cannot tell me that I'm getting zero benefits from that Amperex 5AR4 tube I installed that day because the sonic improvements are blatantly obvious to anyone who isn't hearing impaired. And PLEASE don't try the old " expectation bias " routine with me either because I had a Bendix 6106 tube in the DAC prior to installing the Amperex 5AR4 and I didn't expect or believe, there was a snowball's chance in hell the Amperex 5AR4 would be sonically superior to the Bendix 6106!
In addition, Chip if you go back and reread my original post you'll see I never said " I would not believe the level of sonic improvement " at all regarding the Amperex 5AR4 tube. I mentioned that others were telling me that "I would not believe the level of sonic improvement I would hear if I switched to using a high-quality Sophia Electric 274B in place of the Amperex 5AR4 tube. "
I know many objectivists believe science can define the reason(s) behind everything we do or don't hear in audio, and when subjectivists claim they hear something that science either, cannot verify, or else science claims it shouldn't be as subjectivists claim they hear it. Then objectivists start mocking the subjectivists with claims of " snake oil when it comes to many audio products, or " expecation bias " when something like a new pair of interconnects or a tube is installed that the subjectivist claims makes a very significant sonic improvement!
But what all these objectivists seem to so quickly forgot --{ sometimes I believe deliberately so }--are the words of one of the most intelligent and most highly respected objectivists of the 20th Century, i.e., Albert Einstein. Albert Einstein made a brilliant, objectivist, observation that almost all of the lesser intelligent objectivists --{ in comparison to Dr. Einstein }-- seem to choose to ignore. His brilliant, almost blatantly obvious, observation was this; " Not everything that matters can be measured, and not everything that can be measured matters. "
This is why I have such difficulty when objectivists in audio, more than every other hobby I've seen, so easily and so quickly, make such disparaging proclamations such as " snake oil and/or " expecation bias " when subjectivists make comments they don't agree with. How do these objectivists know there's not something that really matters but just cannot be measured using today's scientific methods? What "if" this thing that matters so much, could, in fact, be measured using tomorrow's scientific methods, and what if it then proved the subjectivist's proclamations to be absolutely 100% correct? To me, if there's even a chance that possibility even exists, how does one who proclaims to be objective mock those who claim to hear something just because it cannot be proven by today's scientific standards. That hardly seems very objective to me, --at all...
Thetubeguy1954 (Tom)
Central Florida Audio Society -- SETriodes Group -- Space Coast Audio Society
Full-range/Wide-range Drivers --- Front & Back-Loaded Horns --- High Sensitivity Speakers
Edits: 09/04/21
Is there a difference in the B+ voltage, one tube vs. the other?
Tre'
Have Fun and Enjoy the Music
"Still Working the Problem"
Tre, I honestly don't even know what the B+ voltage is. As I stated before I am not technically proficient!
Thetubeguy1954 (Tom)
Central Florida Audio Society -- SETriodes Group -- Space Coast Audio Society
Full-range/Wide-range Drivers --- Front & Back-Loaded Horns --- High Sensitivity Speakers
The power supply voltage that feeds the plate load for the audio circuit tube(s) is called the B+. Different rectifier tubes will produce different supply voltages. The same audio circuit operating on different supply voltages will perform differently. The only way to hear the circuit the way the designer intended it to sound is to use the rectifier tube the circuit was designed for.Tre'
Have Fun and Enjoy the Music
"Still Working the Problem"
Edits: 09/06/21 09/06/21
Ok, thanks for that Tre! I've learned something new today...
Thetubeguy1954 (Tom)
Central Florida Audio Society -- SETriodes Group -- Space Coast Audio Society
Full-range/Wide-range Drivers --- Front & Back-Loaded Horns --- High Sensitivity Speakers
!
The Mind has No Firewall~ U.S. Army War College.
and a US made 5U4G
Ivan, are you comparing the Bendix 6106 I had installed vs the Amperex 5AR4 tube that replaced it? Or are you comparing Sophia Electric 274B, others say I should use in place of the Amperex 5AR4 tube?
Thetubeguy1954 (Tom)
Central Florida Audio Society -- SETriodes Group -- Space Coast Audio Society
Full-range/Wide-range Drivers --- Front & Back-Loaded Horns --- High Sensitivity Speakers
n
Thanks for clearing that up for me...
Thetubeguy1954 (Tom)
Central Florida Audio Society -- SETriodes Group -- Space Coast Audio Society
Full-range/Wide-range Drivers --- Front & Back-Loaded Horns --- High Sensitivity Speakers
That would change the operating point (and therefore the performance) of a tube stage.
Just saying.
Tre'
Have Fun and Enjoy the Music
"Still Working the Problem"
.
~!
The Mind has No Firewall~ U.S. Army War College.
I believe you might have more inrush current with that tube.
Don't remember the cap size but it should be under 4 or 5uf with that tube. If so, go for it, I use that tube on my 2A3 amp
Thanks for the input, John! I'm trying to get Mike to take a ride up to Duval County one of these weekends so we could spend some time again with you just listening to tunes and no repairs taking priority over our time.
Hey John I made an outstanding music find! Check out With the Whisper of a Morning by Margriet Sjoerdsma I believe you'll love her jazzy style...
Thetubeguy1954 (Tom)
Central Florida Audio Society -- SETriodes Group -- Space Coast Audio Society
Full-range/Wide-range Drivers --- Front & Back-Loaded Horns --- High Sensitivity Speakers
If it was me, I would replace with the tubes it was designed for. Your Amperex 5AR4 is mostly likely very good, but seek out a metal base 5AR4 if you so desire, and/or 'upgrade' the 6DJ8's.
to loan you said tube so you can determine it yourself. Probably this is not practical because of the distance.
Also the voltage will change. And you won't have as slow a ramp up of the voltage because the 5AR4 is indirectly heated.
Hi Bas! Unfortunately, I know absolutely NOTHING about the technical side of audio. These two things you mentioned;
1) the voltage changing.
2) there won't have as slow a ramp-up of the voltage because the 5AR4 is indirectly heated.
These are these things I know nothing about at all! So first thank you for telling me about these two things and second should be worried about them damaging my DAC? Thanks...
Thetubeguy1954 (Tom)
Central Florida Audio Society -- SETriodes Group -- Space Coast Audio Society
Full-range/Wide-range Drivers --- Front & Back-Loaded Horns --- High Sensitivity Speakers
..the slow ramp up...and lower voltage won't damage your dac.
A first capacitor right after the rectifier larger in value than 10uF might be an issue.
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: