Preamp Rectifier Tube Confusion

@mofimadness Hey thanks for the link! Thats a great reference 👍

@roberjerman Thanks for that. 

be careful applying these ’review results’ of rectifiers in little headphone amps to real amps driving real speakers with serious electrical loads

as pointed out below, think about what a rectifier actually does in circuit

’after enough scotch, malt whiskey and/or 420, even the same sh*t will sound different’ LOL

If the 5AR4 changes the sound of the preamp (assuming the originals are good) then you have bigger fish to fry. It should not make any difference at all- the difference between good 5AR4 and lessor examples is reliability. The power supply has to be designed well enough that the audio circuit is properly bypassed and the sawtooth waveform at the output of the rectifier is filtered out. If that has been done, then its expectation bias if you think you hear a difference.


OTOH, you will hear a difference from the tubes in the audio path- if you want to hear a nice improvement that's a far better place to put your dollars!