[spiderking31]

I would have never believed a rectifier effects the sound, until I purchased the Takatsuki TA-274B! I owned the Sophia Electric 274B, then the 596 USAF rectifier, and the 596 was MUCH BETTER SOUNDING than the Sophia! The Takatsuki tops the cake! The more my Tak is breaking in, the better the sound quality is!! And I’ve owned my Silver Reference RCA’s far longer than the Takatsuki! And after hours on end of listening, the sound is only getting better! Just my two cents…..

 

[Barnstormer13]

I don’t have a theory or explanation why, but in my experience changing the rectifier tube in a Woo WA6SE makes an easily detected audible difference.

Prior to owning a WA6 I would have completely agreed that the rectifier tube brand and model would make no difference in the sound of the amp. I was wrong.

From what I’ve read it makes a difference in most tube amps, but usually less significant that the driver tubes. The Woo is unusual in that the rectifier can make a bigger difference than the driver tubes.

Will

 

[spiderking31]

Can’t say I don’t agree with you. I own the WA6!

 

[pippen99]

While searching for some 6ca4s ,I ran across this website and am curious more than anything if anyone has tried them .Weber Copper Cap Rectifiers

I used them in a Woo WA5 a few years ago. The advantage was to lower the noise floor which equated to a blacker background. The disadvantage was the amp lost some of it's tubey lushness. Depending on your priorities worth the dollars.

 

[spiderking31]

That I didn’t know! Interesting

 

[bpcans]

I would have never believed a rectifier effects the sound, until I purchased the Takatsuki TA-274B! I owned the Sophia Electric 274B, then the 596 USAF rectifier, and the 596 was MUCH BETTER SOUNDING than the Sophia! The Takatsuki tops the cake! The more my Tak is breaking in, the better the sound quality is!! And I’ve owned my Silver Reference RCA’s far longer than the Takatsuki! And after hours on end of listening, the sound is only getting better! Just my two cents…..

@spiderking31, I had been trying to do some investigation into how the Takatsuki TA-274B rectifier would sound in my Woo Audio WA22 headphone amplifier when I came across this thread. Right now I’m using a USAF 596 rectifier, two Tung Sol 5998 power tubes, and I’ve just switched my drivers from the Sophia Electric 6SN7’s to a pair of vintage NOS Mullard Philips ECC35’s. Is there anything else about the Takatsuki 274B that you can share with me? I must say that I was immediately intrigued when I saw your profile photo because it looks a lot like my very own. Thanks, bpcans

 

[spiderking31]

@spiderking31, I had been trying to do some investigation into how the Takatsuki TA-274B rectifier would sound in my Woo Audio WA22 headphone amplifier when I came across this thread. Right now I’m using a USAF 596 rectifier, two Tung Sol 5998 power tubes, and I’ve just switched my drivers from the Sophia Electric 6SN7’s to a pair of vintage NOS Mullard Philips ECC35’s. Is there anything else about the Takatsuki 274B that you can share with me? I must say that I was immediately intrigued when I saw your profile photo because it looks a lot like my very own. Thanks, bpcans

The Takatsuki TA-274B has a fast response time, and I notice better performance through my 12SN7GT’s and even my 13EM7’s! I owned the Sophia Electric 274B which I didn’t like, and then the 596 USAF sounded awesome! Thought that was end game until I pulled the trigger on the TA-274B, and noticed an EVEN BIGGER IMPROVEMENT! Just my two cents…..rock on!

 

[ColSaulTigh]

My Takatsuki will be here mid-next week and I'll give it a shot and see how it sounds.

 

[spiderking31]

My Takatsuki will be here mid-next week and I'll give it a shot and see how it sounds.

I think you’ll like it! You might not notice a difference at first, but if you A/B the Takatsuki, and the 596, you’ll know what I mean….but I don’t recommend pulling a $1250 tube in and out of the socket either! But you’ll notice a difference with how fast the music can transition, and not lag on you.

 

[gkg2k]

My Takatsuki will be here mid-next week and I'll give it a shot and see how it sounds.

Dear ColSaulTigh,

did you formulate an idea about the Takatsuki Denki TA-274B you want to share?

Thank you very much!

 

[ColSaulTigh]

Dear ColSaulTigh,

did you formulate an idea about the Takatsuki Denki TA-274B you want to share?

Thank you very much!

I'll give it a thorough listen over the weekend. As I recall, it's very clean and tight, with a good balance of sound. Slightly rolled-off on the low end, and not overly bright. A nicely well-rounded tube.

If you have any specific music you'd like me to evaluate it against, please let me know.

 

[gkg2k]

I'll give it a thorough listen over the weekend. As I recall, it's very clean and tight, with a good balance of sound. Slightly rolled-off on the low end, and not overly bright. A nicely well-rounded tube.

If you have any specific music you'd like me to evaluate it against, please let me know.

Dear ColSaulTigh,

please use your preferred test music with an eye to rhythm in order to establish if the TA-274B has the scepter of best rectifier in your collection. The comparison with the KR Audio 274B would be particularly interesting.

Thanks for your time!

Gianluca

 

[gkg2k]

I currently use black-base/black-plates early 1950's Cossor 53KU and I'm looking for even better pace, rhythm and transients. I'm certainly looking for an extended and fast rectifier. An almost definitive one, possibly

Thank you again!

 

[Whazzzup]

so it has nothing to do with ones bottom ?

 

[TonyTripleA]

Ok a little background first, I have been playing guitar for a long time and as such I have owned quite a few tube amps. One of these amps happened to be a Mesa Dual Rectifier. Now on the back of Mesa amps you have a switch to go from tube rectifiers to SS based rectifiers. Now if you are into guitar then you will know that the only advantage to having tube rectifiers is power sag. Which some like, but most don't so most every modern tube amp uses SS rectifiers. Also to note why this is, it is the sheer fact the RECTIFIERS HAVE NO EFFECT ON THE SIGNAL CHAIN"S SOUND.

There I said it so again why are Head-Fi folks changing or "upgrading" thier rectifiers. Actually having amp sag in a audio amp is a bad thing. Believe me what I say as I made a name for myself as a local amp tech where guys were bringing me all there amps for bias adjustments, cap replacements and so on. If I had a Woo say I would replace the rectifier with this even though it might no look as "pretty" which it seems some are more concerned with looks rather than sound

. What you don't want in a audio amp is when your source puts out it sudden peaks for your power section to sag.

Again any amp tech worth his salt will tell you that the rectifier has zero effect on the signal chain. Now you can change drive tubes (your biggest effect) or your power tubes to change a amp's sound signature. So one last time, "Why are Head-Fiers worried about their damn rectifiers?"

You raise a question that has interested me since I’ve owned both valve rectified powered valve amps like the Ampsandsound bigger Ben, and solid state powered valve amps like the Auris Nirvana. I am continuing with the Nirvana, for sound quality reasons, no rectifier noise being one of them. Having had the bigger Ben rectifier valve blow with a failed heater element failure, that then took out the power transformer, I’d recommend the solid state approach to powering valve amps Also for reliability, although I am told this problem I had is rare.

I ask myself the question… why would an effective valve rectifier design improve with a different valve brand. The only answer I find myself is that the design wasn’t that great to start with. If the dc voltage supplied by the rectifier has a flaw what would it be? Ripple, other noise, inconsistencies like floating voltage? Well why wasn’t there a design to filter this out or address it? This isn’t hard to do.

I do love the sound of valves, and if it’s improved by something like changing the dc rectifier valve that’s a great result, although my limited experience hasn’t yet seen a benefit over a solid state power supply... I can find no fault with the Auris Nirvana. I bought my Prima Luna amp recently based on sound quality alone without even considering this issue. As they say, trust your ears!

T