New Production 5AR4 Reviews

[sKiZo]

I see both Mullard and TungSol have new production 5AR4/GZ34 varieties available for mass consumption now.

I've seen decent enough reviews, but wonder if anyone has any head to head experience with these and the old stock classics?

Going price is around $35 each for either. Be interesting to see how they compare with the Chinese and Soviet labels.

PS ... I assUme the TungSol's are from the same Soviet source as their KT120's. I'm VERY impressed with those ...

 

[crispycircuit]

Excellent question, long over due..... I was very happy with cheap Ruby coppies.

 

[Pio1980]

My only concerns would be durability and service life.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

 

[buglegirl]

Hiya,

Looks like identical internals and just different bases between them.

Would those be termed "Waffle" plates ???

Did I just invent a plate type description ??

Frannie

 

[rebellovw]

I'm happy with those Phillips big bottle rectifiers you turned me onto - running them in my monos. Thanks for finding those.

 

[sKiZo]

Hiya,

Looks like identical internals and just different bases between them.

Would those be termed "Waffle" plates ???

Did I just invent a plate type description ??

Frannie

The notched plates are similar to the old production British Mullards made in the '60s, so I'm sure somebody else can take credit for the waffle thing by now ... <G>

I'm happy with those Phillips big bottle rectifiers you turned me onto - running them in my monos. Thanks for finding those.

I started having "issues" with the Phillips big bottle here. That's actually a 5R4GYS that pulls more power for operation. I noticed over a couple of sessions that I had to set the bias controls higher, so I pulled it for the Copper Cap. Come to find out, it may just have been some power problems due to an "upgrade" on the local grid, and I also had some flakey bias pots in the amp. Thanx for the reminder. I'll plug that sucker back in tonite and see what happens.

PS ... if anyone's wondering why we refer to the Phillips as a "big bottle" ... well ... a picture is worth a thousand words.

Always looking for new options though ...

Right now I'm using an Amperex Holland 5AR4. It's a very fine tube and replaces a solid state Copper Cap WZ68 that I'd been using with good results . That replaced a Shuguang 5AR4 that just plain scared me with it's nuclear glow ... you can dang near read by one of those things ... <G>

 

[Tom Bavis]

I don't think that's the "big bottle" Philips tube he's referring to... Philps bought Sylvania and continued manufacturing some of their tubes - 6DJ8, 6L6 and 5AR4 among them. When the military wanted spare 5V4 tubes, they relabeled some 5AR4s. When they needed 5881s, they stuffed 6L6GCs into the shorter bottles.

 

[gadget73]

Hm, scary glow eh? Maybe thats what I'll go with when I buy rectifiers for my new Bogen project. It can run either a pair of 5CU4 tubes or 5AR4 tubes. The 5CU4 uses a lot of heater current and seems to be made of pure unobtanium, so my plan was to use rectifiers I can actually get.

Were there actually any problems with the Shugang other than the glow? I don't really want to spring 70 bucks for a pair of rectifiers, and the Shugangs can be had for about half that.

 

[rebellovw]

The notched plates are similar to the old production British Mullards made in the '60s, so I'm sure somebody else can take credit for the waffle thing by now ... <G>



I started having "issues" with the Phillips big bottle here. That's actually a 5R4GYS that pulls more power for operation. I noticed over a couple of sessions that I had to set the bias controls higher, so I pulled it for the Copper Cap. Come to find out, it may just have been some power problems due to an "upgrade" on the local grid, and I also had some flakey bias pots in the amp. Thanx for the reminder. I'll plug that sucker back in tonite and see what happens.

PS ... if anyone's wondering why we refer to the Phillips as a "big bottle" ... well ... a picture is worth a thousand words.

Always looking for new options though ...

Right now I'm using an Amperex Holland 5AR4. It's a very fine tube and replaces a solid state Copper Cap WZ68 that I'd been using with good results . That replaced a Shuguang 5AR4 that just plain scared me with it's nuclear glow ... you can dang near read by one of those things ... <G>

Yep - that is the one - very pretty tube. I have had two of the webers - one went south and took out one of my output tubes - I've since bought two more - for back up - as they were stable for a year. So far no issues with the Phillips - but I'll now keep an eye on it - thanks Skizo

 

[sKiZo]

Were there actually any problems with the Shugang other than the glow? I don't really want to spring 70 bucks for a pair of rectifiers, and the Shugangs can be had for about half that.

No issues with them, other than the glow drowning out the rest of the bottles. Kinda like trying to see the stars with a street light in the way. <G>

I got a couple of those when I built the amp. Figured if there were any issues, they could be the ones to take the bullet instead of the uber expensive and rare tubes. If I remember right, those set me back $18 each. Didn't put too many miles on them as I had a few other tubes I wanted to roll, and never got back around to them.

Pssst ... I hear tell there's people who can go years on the same rectifier. For me, rolling is half the fun.

 

[skriefal]

See the nuclear glow of the Shuguang 5AR4 here (front tube on the left amp):

(Photo is from audiophile03's system pics here.)

The 5AR4 in the right amp looks just as "nuclear" here, though! I sold these amps to audiophile03, and IIRC that's either a GE or Sylvania 5AR4 in the right amp. But might have been replaced with something else before the photo was taken...

 

[gadget73]

Shucks, I was hoping for a nice blue color. Odd as it sounds, nuclear material under water makes a lovely bright blue glow. Cherenkov radiation is the fancy name for it, but it looks quite cool. The brightness of the glow around individual sections directly relates to the activity level.

 

[kward]

I've compared the Shuguang 5AR4 to the Sovtek and the JJ. The Sovtek was pretty good, but the Shuguang was overall better. I've not tried the new production Mullard or the Tung Sol.

I've also compared the Philips 5R4GYS to the Shuguang, and in my setup the Philips did substantially better. Mids were less fuzzy. Bass was deeper.

 

[sKiZo]

Got a Phillips fan club going here ... Mine is in, and warming as we speak.

Before everyone rushes to buy one though, keep in mind that it is NOT a 5AR4 or exact equivalent. The voltage drop is much greater than a 5AR4 and it does take more push to bias up properly, so check with your amp mfg first and see what they got to say about using it with their equipment. You can also expect to lose some max power due to the voltage drop if that's a concern. I got plenty to spare, so no worries there.

EXAMPLE > I just biased up the amp. Only change was going from the Amperex 5AR4 to the Phillips 5R4GYS. Went from 55mA down to a bit less than 20mA on the meters. Nuff said? It did bias up properly, but the bias pots are set a bunch higher than they were and are tickling the top of the range.

I'm also pushing the envelope a bit here using KT120's instead of the KT88 my amp is built to use.

 

[gadget73]

The 5R4 is also directly heated, so B+ will come up faster. Just something to be aware of if your filter caps are marginal on the voltage ratings. Plate voltage will spike until the tubes start to conduct and draw it down.

 

[mhardy6647]

Cerenkov radiation is a really cool phenomenon - in essence, it arises from matter traveling near the speed of light in a given medium. If such matter encounters the interface to a medium in which the speed of light is lower than the first medium, it has to dump energy - instantaneously ;-) - to avoid violating the laws o' physics (Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity, at least more or less).

Gotta love stuff like that Much cooler than current production tubes wearing the names of classic old manufacturers.

 

[TerrySmith]

IMHO, these new 5AR4 tubes look exactly like a Sovtek 5AR4, except the bases and labeling. These are most likely made on the same line, by the same people.

I ain't paying twice as much for them either!

 

[buglegirl]

Hiya,

There is some confusion in the thread about what is a fat bottle 5V4GA which is alleged to be a 5AR4 re-labeled.

Relabeled "Philips" 5V4GA Tube ..

Original "Sylvania/Philips" 5AR4/GZ34 Tube ..

I bought into these relabels before they became known. Now they are selling about 3/4 of what a NOS Mullard goes for in some cases.

You are better off finding Japanese "Mullard Tooled" variants if you desire NOS over current production IMHO.

Frannie

 

[sKiZo]

Thanx for pointing that out ... also worth mentioning that there's some real gems laying about that get less attention because they have some weird re-label on them ... I got a real deal on some Amperex Holland stock that were labeled Gulbransen - I figure organ takeouts ...

****

I did put the Phillips 5R4GYS back in last night. It biased up nice and sounded good, but today it was down around 10mA ... same issue I had last time I tested it. Definitely a weak tube, getting weaker. Better than a FLASH! BANG! I guess.

Put the Shuguang back in and spun a couple disks today and yes, it does have less impact and tends to be a bit muddy on low bass, but it gives the amp a nice smooth sound that's ALMOST enough to let you ignore the other stuff. I'll leave it in for a while and see if it grows on me. Not many hours on it either, which can make a difference.

PS ... that lil 5AR4 looked a little lost amongst the big trees, so I added a socket saver and prettied it up a bit with some metal tape. When little bottles dream ...

 

[Pio1980]

5R4 has less current-carrying capacity than the 5AR4 or 5U4, just a step up from the 5Y3.