[Dubstep Girl]

  Thanks Dubstep Girl for a well written rectifier comparison.  Should become a great reference thread here. Great job!
 
I would also like to add a often over-looked rectifier, a Brimar ( STC ) 5V4G/CV729/GZ32.  I have the CV version from 1955 and it is a pretty decent rectifier in the right applications. I have it in a stock 2012 Woo Audio WA6. combined with RCA 6FD7 "fat bottles", and 6SN7 ( using WA's adapters),  Ken-Rad 6SN7GT- VT231 and RCA 6SN7GT-VT231 grey glass tubes. I also have used a Amperex GZ34 ( 1957 ) and a Tung-Sol 5U4G from 1952.
 
The Brimar 5V4G/CV729 has tight bass, goes pretty deep, just ever so slightly on the warm side of neutral on the mids, and some warmth ( slight roll-off? ) on the highs. Has a wide, horizontal soundstage, and nice space and definition. It betters the Tung-Sol in all areas except the clarity of the highs, and just about matches the deep end in punch and depth of the Amperex GZ34. Soundstage is better than both of the others by a wide margin. If you need a rectifier with a controlled but deep bass , and a "soft" top end, it's a very nice rectifier. The older 50's version has a square getter not unlike the early Brimar 5R4GY. That seems to matter to some.  
 
Also, for what it's worth, the guide in the Woo Audio site and manual for the WA6 incorrectly refers to the 5V4G as directly heated. It is a indirectly heated type, ( slow ramp-up ).

 
thanks! i was trying to find one of these for a good price, seems like an interesting tube. i know the CV593 (mullard version of gz32?) is very nice, i have to try it again to make sure i was hearing right, but it sounded extremely good, almost like a GEC tube with the tone and body as well as clarity.
 
 

  The more common bottom getter Tung Sol 5U4G is indeed a so-so rectifier.
 
The better (and costlier) version of the TS 5U4G is the top getter. I have one but can't say I have done a head to head with the 596, EML, or metal base GZ34.

 
interesting. ill have to look out for one perhaps. the bottom getter is the one i tried, and it wasn't bad, but it was kinda mediocre sounding.

 

[Manoa1]

Thanks Dubstep Girl. I'm a fairly new WA6 owner and up to now had been using a SG 5AR4 rectifier. Since the amp was second hand, it came with a number of other tubes so I popped in a Mullard GZ32. Wow, what an improvement. Comparitively more pleasant and neutral sounding. The soundstage and imaging sometimes makes it seem like my headphones disappear (if that makes sense).

 

[Dubstep Girl]

its a great tube!

 

[Dubstep Girl]

wow WE422A have really gone up....

 

[ardilla]

wow WE422A have really gone up....

...... since the moment you started this thread......

 

[Frank I]

DG you are good for not only the community but also a reseller best friend.

 

 

[Dubstep Girl]

.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

  DG you are good for not only the community but also a reseller best friend.

 

 
LOL so true! unfortunately the increase in demand makes these tubes very hard to find.
 
btw I'm going to be posting a few tubes for sale soon actually as well as some other stuff cause my 03 corolla finally died on me and i need a new one to get me to work 

  sucks cause i wanted to keep saving the tubes for future amp purchases, i guess i'll start by selling the ones i might not use that often.

 

[Komuso]

Any of the really good ones going on sale like the GEC U52?  Any other tubes you find go really well with the HD800?  You specifically mentioned the GEC U52 as one of them.  Maybe a cheaper alternative as well 

.
 
 
Quote:

  ...i guess i'll start by selling the ones i might not use that often.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

 

 
perhaps.
 
i will try to keep at least 1 WE422A for myself, since i have 2 (i liked it so much i bought a spare)
 

 

[Komuso]

I may follow up on your suggestion of the Phillips 5R4GYS.  Reasonably priced.  I had the EML 5U4G at one point.  Can't really knock it as it was the best rectifier I had at one point.  However, it is kind of fun trying the NOS tubes.  Right now I have Mazda 5Y3GB, CBS 5U4GA, RCA 5U4GB, Valve Art 274B, and Bendix 6106.  
 
People I talk to indicate that the rectifier will have less influence over sound than one's input or power tubes.  Do you all think it makes sense to spend so much on these uber expensive rectifiers rather than input our power tubes?

 

[Dubstep Girl]

depends on the amp but i think it makes quite a difference in some, and less in others (like my WA2, the rectifier didn't really mean much), but it does on all the other tube amps i've tried.

 

[mikemercer]

  depends on the amp but i think it makes quite a difference in some, and less in others (like my WA2, the rectifier didn't really mean much), but it does on all the other tube amps i've tried.

GREAT work @Dubstep Girl !!!!
Very informative. I had a blast diggin' into this as I've been doing more messing around with these types of tubes lately than ever before!
Strange, considering I came from high end 2-channel roots - but many of the high end tube components I longed for were FAR too much $$$$!
 
I'm in the midst of rolling 5AR4's on my ALO Studio Six (my PFO review HERE) and currently I'm really enjoying this Phillips tube I got from
a friend. 
 
I totally agree with you, that it all depends on the amp (whether the rectifier renders a sonic change) but when it does - you've provided some
KILLER feedback! Hell, even if it doesn't! For a tube fan, as I am (and still learning) you gave me the best read I've had in weeks!
 
Back to my ST6 and the new Burial EP!!

 

[Bigsecret]

   
nope, out of the few stratus owners, as far as i know, none have tried them. and most seem to have only tried the easily available 5U4 types and the EML (probably to match the EML 2a3).
 
btw, i tried a Tung Sol 5U4G the other day, i might add it to this review this weekend but it sounded ok, i don't think anything amazing though. the best regular 5U4G so far appears to be that 1940s RCA smooth black plate, nice warm sound with clean focused bass and doesnt really do anything wrong.
 
would be nice to see if RK60 works with the Stratus.

Stratus owner here. I was about to purchase the EML 5U4G as you predicted (to go with 2a3 mesh plates and LCD3 phones). Then I saw your comparison in the nick of time…literally. I emailed Donald North about WE422A and he said it would work but would require re-wiring one of the pins. Instead I found a Marconi U52 at Tejas Tubes. 
 
I listened on and off all weekend and couldn't get enough. In the first minute of listening the sound was so smooth and full I thought it was smearing the detail. Then I realized I was actually hearing more detail and more of everything. All the good stuff tubes do but not overblown. I had no idea a rectifier tube could make such a difference. Expensive but, to my ears, a lot of musical bang for the buck. And quite a nice match to the Stratus.

 

[gavtorn]

   
 
you're welcome!!
 
please let me know what you think of the GEC, i hope i can buy a stratus one day and would love to use the GEC or WE422A over the EML alot of people seem to use.

 
I was a bit hesitant at the upgrade given the cost of a used tube(!) I have borrowed some expensive EML 2a3's to try in the stratus which is currently running Sophia Princess tubes - I didn't like the EML's at all so for me, more expensive does not always equal better sq .  But I also figure that if I didn't like the GEC in my setup I can sell it for around what it's worth and try something else..
 
I have just done a quick comparison of the GEC vs. the RCA black base tube.  I have only had the GEC playing for an hour so it may still have some improving to do but I decided to do a quick swap to see if I could notice any changes in sq.
 
DSG - I think your impressions are on the money.  I can hear what you mean about a higher quality tube providing better layering to the sound.  The mid range is a lot more open / transparent and makes the RCA sound a bit congested and the soundstage a bit more closed in.
 
Compared to the stock 5U4g (shuguang?) that shipped with the stratus the RCA is a big upgrade.  The GEC is the same level of upgrade over the RCA again.
 
Thanks again for your comparisons, made this an easy upgrade
 
cheers,
 
gav.