[rydenfan]

Pete, I will shoot you a PM right now.

[MarkR7]

So if I'm reading correctly, the 5U4GB is a direct drop-in replacement for the 5AR4s?  Is it the general opinion that the 5U4GB might sound better than the 5AR4 in Dan's tube rectified power supplies?

Cheers,
 

[rpf]

So if I'm reading correctly, the 5U4GB is a direct drop-in replacement for the 5AR4s?  Is it the general opinion that the 5U4GB might sound better than the 5AR4 in Dan's tube rectified power supplies?

Cheers,
 

Yes it is. I find the Mullard/Amperex 5AR4 better than the RCA 5U4GB but I haven't heard the Tung Sol or Sylvania (Mullard) 5U4G/GBs.

[MarkR7]

Thanks!  I'm currently using a Mullard (Blackburn, F31) 5AR4 which I really like.  Just wondering if I can improve upon it.

So if I'm reading correctly, the 5U4GB is a direct drop-in replacement for the 5AR4s?  Is it the general opinion that the 5U4GB might sound better than the 5AR4 in Dan's tube rectified power supplies?

Cheers,
 

Yes it is. I find the Mullard/Amperex 5AR4 better than the RCA 5U4GB but I haven't heard the Tung Sol or Sylvania (Mullard) 5U4G/GBs.

[James Romeyn]

ro7939,

That would be very informative. aa  I'm sure the 36.5+ would do very well against these preamps.  I'm not interested in which one is "superior" since that's a very subjective notion.  I'm more interested in the differences that would suit my taste.

Ditto.  It would be great fun.  At this level synergy & personal taste may be deciding factors.  Even if one was unanimously preferred by a small group of listeners, another user in a different system may prefer the other.  I imagine professional wine testers rarely agree on one particular favorite.  Listeners hear differently, have different ear shapes, prefer certain qualities over others, etc.  OTOH, more than once another listener (including HP's ex-equipment manager) took the words right out of my head in describing the difference between two components.  

I'm looking forward to hearing the 36.5+.  

[klao]

...Since ModWright has moved up to the big boys with the new preamp/PS combo, I'd like to see this preamp pitted against similarly priced units like the Atmo-Sphere MP-1 mk. III, Audioresearch Ref 3, SMc Audio VRE-1...

FYI, Bob Levi's review of the LS 36.5, w/o the optional PS, in PFO issue 38, favors MWI preamp over the ARC Ref 3 that he reviewed some issues ago.  I personally e-mailed to ask him how much better the LS 36.5 is, he think it's 0.5 point better (on scale of 10 - his ref).  Doesn't seem much if their price points are not 100% apart!

Maybe Dan should send him the combo to review again.  I'm curious to know how would they compare to Bob's reference preamps now.