Preamp Deal of the Century

Has anyone tried the 5Y3 tube in the rectifier postion on your Supratek? My niece's husband Carl bought an old tube radio at an antique store to gut it and turn it into a speaker cabinet for his guitar amp. Inside the radio were some old tubes covered with dust. One of the tubes was a Tung Sol 5Y3. Carl cleaned the tube up and brought it over thinking maybe I could use it. I put it in the rectifier position along with 6f6g's as regulators and Sylvania VT-231's in the line stage. WOW! I was blown away from the first note. This tube tested good in my friends tester, but has probably not been played in 45 or 50 years.

I played the remastered cd of Brian Bromberg's It's About time first. The speed at which Brian is playing the upright bass is amazing and this tube compliment really brought that forward. Freddie Hubbard's Flugalhorn on track 6 has the most beautiful tone. Brian's bass is very articlulate and very deep. Next I played Johnny A's Get Inside CD. The sound from top to bottom is the best I have heard form my Syrah! I have not even put in my Tung Sol round plates. This tube combo is better than the 6f6g's, Tung Sol round plates, and Bendix 6106 combo that I have been using. A big thanks goes out to Carl for bringing this tube over for me to try. KILLER SOUND! ABSOLUTE KILLER!

Slowhand - the 5y3 is a directly-heated full-wave rectifier. like all directly-heated recitifier it doesn't have a slow startup. this means that every time you power on the preamp you are stripping the cathodes. it damages your tubes and i believe the preamp's capacitors also. the sound you describe is typical of directly-heated recitifiers. most people prefer the sound of directly-heated recitifiers. if you choose to continue using it i wouldn't power the preamp down.

Slowhand... Pay attention to Jazzdude's post here! Good catch Jazzdude. I wouldn't worry about damaging the capacitors, however as Jazzdude correctly pointed out....you must leave your preamp powered up or you will certainly experience a premature tube life of both the regulators and the 6sn7's. I do concurr with your observations of it's sound though, exactly the reason why I use the Bendex 6106 as my rectifier of choice in both the syrah and the cortese. The bendex 6106 specs out closer to the 5y3 electrically than any of the recommended "indirectly" heated rectifiers, It was developed exclusively for the US military to be used as a direct sub for the 5y3.Interesting though: Before I discovered the 6106, I was so very impressed with the sound of the 5y3, I would power up the syrah for about 1/2 an hour with the mullard gz34 in place and then "quicky" sub in the 5y3 to prevent the cathode stripping Jazzdude is alluding to.

That's a "bummer" guys. I really love the sound of this combo of tubes. David, when you talk about "quickly" subbing in the 5y3, do you leave the preamp on and pull out the GZ34 and put in the 5y3? Can you clarify that for me, and does it harm the preamp or tubes? I thought I heard somewhere that the Supratek can be ran without a tube in the rectifier position, although it is not recommended. Thanks for bringing this to my attention Jazzdude.

Just received my tricked up Grange last week. Order was placed in late November. Be patient; it is well worth the wait.