Hey t-bon3 – Thanks for replying to this thread with your experience in swapping out the 5AR4 with Upscale’s Phillips 5R4GYS. Interesting feedback, and is consistent with most other reviews I’ve read of the 5R4GYS.
What I find especially interesting, is that according to what I’ve found online, the 5R4GYS has more sag/voltage drop than the 5AR4, and yet many listeners prefer this higher amount of voltage drop. Logically, this seems counterintuitive. You’d think that a more consistent, and relatively higher, voltage level would provide a more powerful and stable power supply and therefore better overall sound. But, that does not seem to be popular opinion.
The Guitar Player article I provided the link to above seems to have the best “electrical” explanation for this. The writer is talking about guitar amps here, not hi-fi. But the explanation seems to make sense nonetheless:
- From the article: “…The slightly compressed feel that a tube rectifier produces when hit hard can be a big part of the magic in some tube amps. It softens the front edge of the player’s pick attack while producing an enticing, explosive swell of notes just behind that attack, and can often make an amp feel more dynamic and touch-sensitive. Players and philosophical amp designers alike will also tell you that they sometimes hear more air and dimension in tube-rectified amps; a sort of bloom and spaciousness in the notes that gives them depth and texture.”
The only “logical” explanation I can think of, is that what listeners might be hearing when replacing their rectifier tubes is the “newness” of their newly installed rectifier tubes vs. their older, possibly worn-out ones that they replaced. It might be more a matter of tube age, usage, and wear-and-tear, and not inherent differences between different rectifier tubes.
In any event, the magic and mystery of listening to music through vacuum tubes continues. ;-)
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