Hi all,
My 5U4G (not B) tube packed in completely. It's about 4 years old. No heater light, nothing.
This is on a Rowe Tropicana.
I had a couple of spares. One has some tape around it saying low output. The other was unknown. After trying both of them, the sound was what I can only describe as woolly, like when the stylus has a big gob of fluff on the end.
So I ordered a brand new JJ 5U4GB. It's as clear as day and louder than previously.
I assume the spare I had with low output on, had a poor DC voltage. And probably the other one too.
I'm assuming that the low output had an impact on the performance of the power amp as a whole, and the result was a woolly sound a bit like a worn out stylus. I've googled about, as I'm curious, but not a lot of accurate info, and mostly guitar amp related.
Is this a common phonomenon when a rectifier tube has low output ? I'm just curious..
I also saw solid state replacements but then read that the voltage drop is much less, so amp mods would be needed, and the warm up of tubes would mean the output DC would be initially high, and not suitable for some amps.
Thoughts around the fuzzy sound with the spare ones please.
Nigel, uk