Many thanks to Sue and Richard at Sophia Electric for sending Today's Fresh Catch, a pair of the Sophia Electric 45 Mesh Plate power tubes, and a Sophia Electric Aqua 274B rectifier.
Sophia Electric 45 Mesh Plate power tubes (left pair), and Sophia Electric Aqua 274B rectifier (right).
The beautiful 2 watt Triode Lab 45 EVO SET integrated amplifier will be the fortunate recipient of these vacuum tubes from Sophia Electric, and I will be telling you all about their performance in posts to come.
Triode Lab 45 EVO SET integrated amplifier.
The Triode Lab EVO 45 SET integrated amplifier was shipped to me with the Emission Labs 45 mesh plate power tubes and a Psvane Acme 274B rectifier, but unfortunately, the 45 EVO's Psvane Acme 274B rectifier got damaged during shipping, with some glass breaking off of it internally where the support structure inserts into the base.
I was a little hesitant to try the Psvane Acme 274B rectifier given the damage, so I tried a couple of other highly regarded NOS rectifiers I had here in the 45 EVO, and they made the 45 EVO sound positively dreadful, making it sound harsh, forward, and just unpleasant to listen to most music with.
Sophia Electric Aqua 274B rectifiers in my vintage McIntosh MC30 monaural amplifiers.
I put a Sophia Electric Aqua 274B rectifier in the Triode Lab 45 EVO that I pulled out of one of my vintage McIntosh MC30 mono amplifiers (above photo), and that beautiful SET magic was fully evident from the 45 EVO SET amplifier with the Aqua 274B in the circuit.
Frankie at Triode Labs urged me to give the Acme 274B rectifier a try in spite of the damage, as a worst case scenario would be a blown fuse if it didn't work. It turned out that the Acme 274B rectifier still worked ok, even though it was a little disconcerting to see bits of broken glass inside it.
Sophia Electric Aqua 274B rectifier.
However, my initial impression was that the Sophia Electric Aqua 274B rectifier offered better performance in the Triode Lab 45 EVO SET integrated amplifier than the Psvane Acme 274B.
I've found over the years, that the premium Sophia Electric vacuum tubes have provided superior performance from my amplifiers, as Richard's design and voicing of his vacuum tubes have routinely provided a significantly better combination of musicality and sound quality than the other brands of NOS or new production vacuum tubes I have tried.
Given the situation, I thought the best course of action would be to consult with Richard and Sue at Sophia Electric about rectifier choices for the Triode Lab 45 EVO.
Sue and Richard told me that among their rectifier offerings, that the Sophia Electric Aqua 274B rectifier would be the best choice among their 274B rectifier models, given the circuit design of the 45 EVO, as going with a Sophia Electric 274B mesh plate might be a risky choice due to a shortened life given the nature of the 45 EVO's circuit.
Frankie at Triode Labs thought the Sophia Electric 274B mesh plate would be a nice choice, as he says the 45 EVO amplifier is easier on rectifiers than the circuit would imply, but we went with the Sophia Electric Aqua 274B, as that was what Sue and Richard were more comfortable with from a reliability standpoint.
The bottom line is that the Triode Lab 45 EVO SET integrated amplifier is super-sensitive to rectifier choice, so if you have or buy a Triode Lab 45 EVO SET integrated amplifier, I recommend you don't skimp on rectifiers. Good rectifiers are money well spent with the 45 EVO if you want to hear it at its considerable best!
Sophia Electric 45 Mesh Plate power tubes (left pair), and Sophia Electric Aqua 274B rectifier (right).
I'll be interviewing Richard on the design and voicing of his Sophia Electric 45 mesh plate vacuum tubes, and Richard always has some interesting insights to share, so I'll look forward to telling you more about that in future posts as well.
Below is a close-up of the mesh plate in the Sophia Electric 45 mesh plate vacuum tubes.
Close-up of the mesh plate.
I'll be installing this set of vacuum tubes from Sophia Electric into the Triode Lab 45 EVO SET integrated amplifier in the near future, and will provide some listening updates as they get some time on them in the 45 EVO, and how they compare to the Emission Labs 45 mesh plate power tubes and the Psvane Acme 274B rectifier, in terms of musicality and sound quality.
Sophia Electric 45 mesh plate power tubes (left), and Sophia Electric Aqua 274B rectifier (right).
Thanks again to Sue and Richard for sending their Sophia Electric 45 mesh plate power tubes and the Sophia Electric Aqua 274B rectifier!
Per my usual custom, I'll be providing listening updates along the way here at Jeff's Place, with a full article at Positive Feedback in due time about the Sophia Electric 45 mesh plate power tubes and the Sophia Electric Aqua 274B rectifier.
To give you an idea of the cost spread of quality 274B rectifiers, currently a single NOS Western Electric 274B rectifier sell for about $1000+ USD when you can find one, with the Psvane Acme 274B rectifier selling for about $290 USD, the Sophia Electric 274B mesh plate rectifier starts at $200 USD, and the Sophia Electric Aqua 274B rectifier starts at $170 USD.
The Sophia Electric 45 mesh plate vacuum tubes start at $350 USD per matched pair, with the Emission Labs 45 mesh plate being $600 USD per matched pair.
As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!
