Supratek Tubes and Tube Swappin' for Everybody

Jazzdude, before I ever tried the 350B, I emailed Mick and asked him if it was okay. He said it was okay and his only caution to me was to guard against unscrupulous tube dealers selling counterfeit 350B's.

I have had no problem with my power supply that I know of and I have been using the 350B's for 1 1/2 to 2 years.

BTW, I just got in two more 6106's and I got the music back. No doubt about in my Chardonnay. The bass is much tighter and the soundstage is incredibly more focused. The difference between the Mullard 5AR4 and the 6106 is rather dramatic. No going back for me. The 5AR4 has boomy bass and less defined edges all the way around compared to the 6106. But Bwhite may be correct in implying that there is a synergy between the 6106 and the 350Bs.

It's been about a week of burning in the 6106. It definitely sounds different then the GZ34, but not better in my system. I can only arrive at the conclusion that one's opinion of this configuration is very system specific. With my Art Audio Jotas and Merlin VSM, the 6106+350B combo was too lean. Swapping in my Audio Note speakers (inherently colored, full, warm speakers), the 6106+350B was better.

I'm going back to my metal base GZ34. Besides the fact I prefer the sonics, I prefer to run my gear with tubes it's designed for. I've had transformers/power supplies (in other gear) damaged when substituting non-equivalents (e.g. ECC32 in 6SN7), so I have a inclination to play it safe these days. FYI: this damage is rarely immediately apparent, but rather it manifests itself over long durations (e.g. years). Just be careful when running your gear beyond tolerance.

Bwhite and Fiddler - my intent was only to bring the heater current issue to the attention of SupraTek owners at large. However they act on that info is up to the individual. We are talking about a small amount of power. Less than 1 extra watt DC for both heaters combined. But design specs normally exist for a reason.

Hi Gang. Whopadeedo. You stated "you preferr to run your gear with the tubes that were designed for it". Are you stating the spec for the rectification duty of your supratek is only rated for an gz34/ar4 and the 6106 doesn't meet spec? Your metal based gz34 is a fabulous rectifier to be sure[yes I have one] however, there are more than a dozen substitute rectifiers that will meet spec for rectification duty in your supratek.Please sir, don't interpret this post as being derogatory. Regarding regulation tubes....Mick recommends a max of 1.5 amps for heater current on the regulators. Well in the real world, that .1 amp draw for the heaters will fall well within the tolerance on any cuircuit designers paramaters if one is using regulator tubes to smooth the ripple of the rectifier, regardless of what type of rectification tube type used. The 6106 is rather unique in regard to run in time, as it requires a ton more burn in time than any other rectifier of it's type. The 6106 mated with the 350b's is any thing but lean in character regardless of the speaker used. I have auditioned your very own Merlin's in my own room and I would never ever consider it as sounding lean in character by any stretch, even in my rather large sound room [ 34ft x 27 ft x 12 ft ceiling] Great speakers by the way! I can remember responding to Bwhite's post as well as others regarding this very same issue in the original preamp of the century thread. If your 6106 was new out of the box, be rest assured; that 1 week of playing time isn't any where near enough run in time on the 6106. Furthermore... there is no better rectifier/regulator combo[6106/350] for any of the supratek preamps . Yes, the 6106 is closer in spec to a 5y3 than a gz34 however,it "isn't" a 5y3 and there isn't a 5y3 type rectifier on the planet that sounds anything at all like the 6106 in the supratek or any other gear for that matter. Your reply to Jazzdude regarding the 5y3 distorting sooner than a gz34 may indeed be correct. That said: a 5y3 type rectifier is NOT a 6106, and the 6106 will "not" distort sooner than my metal based gz34. It's the very same analogy as saying the metal based gz34 sounds better than a mullard, amperex, sylvania,phillips gz34. Patience my good man, give in more time[much more] you will surely be rewarded!

I'll cook them a bit more. All three Bendix I have are NOS/NIB, so I'll give them a fair shake by burning them a couple weeks longer. For 6106 users, how long does the tube life last? When called to do 5AR4 duty, the life should be significantly shortened.

For all intents and purposes, the 6106 is very much like the 5Y3 in electrical operation. Sure, it's indirectly heated and sound better then any 5Y3 I know, but it's still very similiar to a 5Y3 in regards to electrical function. Thus, I expect it to behave much like a 5Y3 in a 5AR4 application. It has nothing to do with the 6106 being the best 5Y3-type tube. It's still a 5Y3-type tube called to do 5AR4 duties. The analogy goes: throwing in a metal base GZ34 in to a 5U4G circuit doesn't mean it will perform well simply because the metal base GZ34 is the best of its kind.

In any case, I'll give it more time. FWIW: I, too, don't think the 350B will likely cause any damage in Suprateks (although it can happen).