Crucial TUBE question

I wish I were smart enough to know how the filament voltage made it through the diode to power the filaments, but I'm not. ;-)  It worked somehow.

"I don't know what it is that makes power tubes in the rectifier position have such a big bold sound."

Well, you're only getting a half-wave supply (one diode) as opposed to a full-wave supply (two diodes in the 5AR4).  It would be noisier, but if there's anough filtering it would work, I supposed.  Also reduced voltage at the output, which would change the sound.  Mainly, though, I'm having trouble imagining why a manufacturer would suggest, or even allow, replacing a twin-diode rectifier with a single-plate power tube, unless it were a 6080 or similar twin-plate regulator tube.  Another possibility is that the unit uses SS diodes and the tube rectifier is just a buffer to provide a slower turn-on.  In that case I guess a power tube could work.  But most power tubes aren't designed the handle the amount current that rectifiers can.  So it seems like a risky thing to me. ;-)

Also, it's likely that a schematic wouldn't indicate that pin 7 is used as a tie point, so you'd still be scratching your head. ;-)

@dogearedaudio the unit I'm talking about has 2 half-wave rectifier tubes, but the small manufacturer does state that if using a power tubes as rectifiers, you should only use for preamp, dac or low powered set amp. I'm sure there isn't going to be much voltage drop in a preamp that uses one rectifier for each channel.

Ah, okay.  Is this the fellow that makes the add-on rectifier boxes?

Yes, called super rectifier, they do make a huge difference for some reasons I understand and some I don't.