Does a rectifier have a sound?

[gnugear]

Just wondering if it's more of a durability issue than a tone issue.

[Flames1950]

They have a sound when they start to go south....a nice big HHHUUUUMMMMMMMMM.

[gnugear]

So brand doesn't make too much of a difference then?

[Dai H.]

I have a Chatham "potato masher" 5R4. It makes sort of a "thunk" if you drop it. The smaller rectfiers make a loud "pop" if you drop them and pop the glass...

seriously, some of the hi-fi guys say they do. Personally I think it's one of those more subtle things. I think that you can get some improvements out of "tube rolling" (changing different brands, etc.), cap rolling, resistor rolling, etc. but I think in the long run it's probably better to learn how things work. It should be more effective and efficient. And you can also apply the knowledge to guitar amps too.

[gnugear]

Thanks Dai. I'm doing the opposite and I'm going to try applying what I learned about guitar and do it to audio.

[Dai H.]

you should try looking through the tube asylum archives for the subjective kinds of impressions about different brands of rectifier tubes. There's a lot of that kind of info there:

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/tubes/bbs.html

[mightymike]

Just wondering if it's more of a durability issue than a tone issue.

The rectifier is part of the power supply, and basicly uses check valves
(plumbing analogy) to convert AC to DC. But they do have an effect on the tone, as do the big filter caps in the power supply becasue they determine the quality of the DC.

There are basicly two type of rectifiers.
Tube and Diode

The tube recitfier will have sag, and be looser on the bottom end.
Some people love that. I don't, but it has it's place.


Diodes will be tighter and there are different Diode to choose from.

I prefer Diode rectifiers. I'm gonna try Freds. They are supposed to be faster than the other diodes. Everyone I've heard try them, has liked them. I've spent so much already, that spending $25 to see for my self
on my next build is a drop in the bucket.

If you have an amp with a tube rectifier, you can use a yellow jacket to A/B them and see what you prefer.

Mike

[gnugear]

Give the Freds a shot ... they are faster and sound/feel really nice. Like you said, it's nothing compared to the price of the whole amp.