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Weston Acoustics Owners & Discussion Thread


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From the man himself a few years back....He later specified a Mullard GZ37 if you wanted to spend $$$$
 
 
Hmmm, rectifier tubes.
I like the old stock 5R4g rectifiers. Also a good option, but not cheap are the English made GZ37.
 
Cheers, Earle.
 
Edit: This was an email in regards to rolling the rectifier tubes.
 
Edited by kelossus
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29 minutes ago, jakeyb77 said:

There is a lot of people saying the first thing they do is swap out the potato masher but they don’t say what with lol.

Yes the first thing you should do is throw out the potato mashers and yes swapping the rectifier in Weston Amps makes a massive difference !!

As for what to replace them with..... don't ask me.... I can't remember.... I don't even own one of these Weston jobs.... :unsure:

 

@darth vader should be able to point you in the right direction as he's tried quite a few.

Part of it is personal preference (except for the potato mashers... they're just plain schiit !!) and finding ones that suit your system.

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Guest jakeyb77

The safest route has been to order a quad of NOS RCA 5R4GY. This should see me out till I die. 

Sonically preferred by some and a little prettier being a big bottle. 

080388DE-6EEF-405B-B12D-59B9755C84B4.jpeg

Edited by jakeyb77
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Heard from Earle the other day and he tells me that my Topaz will be supplied with Russian 5c3s rectifiers and says that they are one of the better 5u4g type tubes so the 5u4g must be compatible. Maybe you could have a duff one, stranger things have happened.

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Perhaps you mean this shootout?

 

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/dubstep-girls-massive-5ar4-5r4-5u4g-rectifier-review-comparison-rectifer-tube-rolling-thread.694525/

 

Though he doesn't really test the new production 5AR4s out there, which is what I use. Interesting seeing them say these things are meant to last 20k hours, when my manual stipulates just 2k hours. I currently have 2300 hours on mine and it seems to still be going strong.

Edited by Ittaku
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3 hours ago, Ittaku said:

Perhaps you mean this shootout?

 

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/dubstep-girls-massive-5ar4-5r4-5u4g-rectifier-review-comparison-rectifer-tube-rolling-thread.694525/

 

Though he doesn't really test the new production 5AR4s out there, which is what I use. Interesting seeing them say these things are meant to last 20k hours, when my manual stipulates just 2k hours. I currently have 2300 hours on mine and it seems to still be going strong.

Aren't we (as usual) complicating things?  Surely the only job of a power supply is to provide a constant and reliable supply to the rest of the amp.  The differences in the 'sound' of various valve rectifiers are therefore down to their ability to do this.  Guitar players have known this for years and use different rectifiers to tune their sound according to their different properties.  I'm not sure that this is an issue in hi fi, but the same rules would apply.  Basically, if you want the stiffest power supply you go SS, but I can understand why people (including me) are attracted to another nice glowing valve or two.  BTW, has anyone tried those little SS 'rectifiers' that plug into the valve sockets?

Edited by Bronal
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1 hour ago, Bronal said:

Aren't we (as usual) complicating things?  Surely the only job of a power supply is to provide a constant and reliable supply to the rest of the amp.  The differences in the 'sound' of various valve rectifiers are therefore down to their ability to do this.  Guitar players have known this for years and use different rectifiers to tune their sound according to their different properties.  I'm not sure that this is an issue in hi fi, but the same rules would apply.  Basically, if you want the stiffest power supply you go SS, but I can understand why people (including me) are attracted to another nice glowing valve or two.  BTW, has anyone tried those little SS 'rectifiers' that plug into the valve sockets?

Yes we are complicating things. I wouldn't try a SS rectifier unless the amp was designed with that in mind as it would lead to cathode stripping downstream. The soft start of valve rectifiers has a protective advantage there, even if the SS rectification is more reliable, unless you have relays to heat the valves first and then pass on the high voltage to them. I only linked the shootout because someone was looking for one, I wouldn't put any weight on it at all myself, knowing how rectifiers work and where they are in my system...

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1 hour ago, jakeyb77 said:

If anyone has some 6SL7 variants they don’t want or don’t like I may be interested to try... ?

I have some metal base nos Russian variants from the Moscow factory (MELZ) but like them even if I am not using them I may down the track.

 

One of the better 6SL7 types.

 

If you were local I'd loan them to you to try.

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I've tried a number of different rectifiers in my Weston amps. Weather or not they should make a difference is irrelevant, the fact is they do make a difference.

 

Cetron potato masher...yukk. just lifeless. 

Base model Russian 5U4G/5U3C. Nice tube. Respectable detail, bit rounded top and bottom.

Emission Labs 274B. By far the best, most musical, punchy, detailed accurate tube I've tried.

Emission Labs 5U4G. Nice tube. Not as good as 274B but less than half the price.

Polish supplied Russian 5U4G. Year and factory unknown to me. A good step above the base model supplied by Earle.

I'm now rolling some Russian black plate 5U3C from 1958 and 1959, along with USA made Milliwatt 5R4. They are sounding nice but still need more hrs. 

 

I tried a Milliwatt 5AR4 in my TM pre. Sounded great but wattage rating isn't sufficient. Was one of those lets see type moments.

 

I loved the 274B so why roll other tubes? Because a $450 tube lasted less than 2 years before going kaputski. A sad day and was interesting to note the cost/benefit ratio on that one. There is no need to go that far for great results.

 

I've found Earle is very helpful if you ask if a particular tube can be used in a particular unit. Asking him "what can I use?" is a short Q? with a long answer.

Hopefully we can share what we have found here so as not to annoy Earle all the time. Without help from @Red MacKay @buzz lightyear and @Martykt I wouldn't have learnt what I have. So share what you have tried and found.

 

At first I was a disbeliever as to how much a rectifier can effect things. When you think about it, how can the signal tubes be at their best when they don't get the best, most suitable power.

 

@frankn I would have been interested a few weeks ago. 

 

 

 

 

 

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Yes, some of those tubes used/tried in Dan's pre were mine.

 

The EML274B was sonically a 9.5/ 10 for me.  It was simply brilliant!

 

The Mullard GZ34 was a 8.75/10 in comparison.  It did a lot of what the EML did, but not to the same level of beautiful.

 

Everything else was just not even in the hunt, I had my stash of around 6 other awesome rectifiers on the day and even my GZ37 was not as good as the GZ34.  Go figure!

 

Not that NOS Mullard GZ34s (NOT reissues) are even remotely cheap, but I would design a TM pre so that it uses twin rectifiers to be able to run two rectifiers and then they would run super easy and last for years and years.  Not a stressed out 2 years!

 

The added benifit of GZ34s is the 30 second slow ramp up!  Massage time - how much better is that for your swish and uber expensive DHT tubes.  Makes sense to me!  Maybe Eale could make a retrofit kit?

 

Just my 2 cents...

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I'd forgotten about the Mullards Red.

 

Red helped Oren get his Topaz integrated singing really nice with GZ34 rectifier, GEC KT-66 and, IIRC, some Sylvania small signal tubes. It turned an already good amp into a great sounding amp. 

Edited by darth vader
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Guest jakeyb77

So the 5U4GBEH back in and no hum or buzz at all today after an hour. 

To be fair the last time it happened was their first run and about 4 hours in. 

Watching closely to see what happens 

6EC5D5AC-EF85-4EBC-96FA-2B1C0631F358.jpeg

Edited by jakeyb77
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13 minutes ago, jakeyb77 said:

So the 4UGBEH back in ....

 

Should that be 5U4GB EH?

 

I see this unit has twin rectifiers - as it should be.

 

There are plenty of NOS or good used old production rectifiers around that you don't need to use new production ones.  The old ones just work.  I have never had an old world rectifier ever crap out on me.

They just die slowly, but always trying to give their all regardless.

Edited by Red MacKay
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Guest jakeyb77
6 minutes ago, Red MacKay said:

 

Should that be 5U4GB EH?

 

I see this unit has twin rectifiers - as it should be.

 

There are plenty of NOS or good used old production rectifiers around that you don't need to use new production ones.  The old ones just work.  I have never had an old world rectifier ever crap out on me.

They just die slowly, but always trying to give their all regardless.

Yep should be 5U4GBEH.

I have some RCA 5R4GY coming and also picked up Franks kind offer. 

Should be enough for now. 

General consensus was to replace the Cetron. But there was a buzz in the amp the other day so put the Cetron back in. 

Anyway no buzz so far today 

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You can mix as well, that center single one would be shared channels (phase splitter?) I don't know how Earle designs his amps.

So can maybe use something with a different flavour there, but need the halves of these dual Triodes to be closely matched in that position I imagine.

Edited by Muon N'
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22 hours ago, darth vader said:

Emission Labs 274B. By far the best, most musical, punchy, detailed accurate tube I've tried.

Emission Labs 5U4G. Nice tube. Not as good as 274B but less than half the price.

DV were these for a Topaz by any chance, think mine could use a new rectifier?

 

Valve noob here.

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