Tubes Asylum

Posted by Robert H. (A) on July 19, 2002 at 19:28:53

In Reply to: Re: Genalex Gold Lion U52 vs. GEC U52? posted by Chris Spafford on July 19, 2002 at 16:04:04:

Good to see you too Chris...and I completely agree. I very much respect the U52, but I too have a preference for the older 5U4G - particularly Tungsol, also the Sylvania VT-244 (both of which hit the top of my list), also the 40's Raytheon and KenRad VT-244's. The best U52 is the 50's black base with the inverted cup getters, a very refined tube, but as you say, lighter on the bass and not as punchy. Later ones I'm not as fond of, refined, but sadly a bit flat also. Actually, the common Tungsol 5U4GB (which also came in two very different versions) is an excellent tube, also at the top of my list - very punchy big bass.

But you are very right that if the power supply is very well designed, the effects of rolling rectifiers are not very dramatic, probably limited to the difference in voltage drop from brand to brand and the tolerances (resulting in differing noise).