A lot of us tubeaholics have been sweating bullets about the unavailability of vacuum tubes coming out of China and Russia due to covid pandemic induced factory shutdowns, supply chain issues, and trade restrictions (Russia). 

We've all been hoping that everything would get sorted out and vacuum tubes would start to flow again before the tubes in our audio electronics gave up the ghost. 

Sue contacted me from Sophia Electric about their new Sophia Electric 'Aqua II' 274B rectifier being available, and asked me if I'd like to give it a listen. Yes indeed! 

Hooray! Vacuum tubes are starting to flow again! That makes me very happy.

Most of you know I really like what Sue and Richard do with their Sophia Electric vacuum tube designs, they just sound great.  

I've put a ton of hours on the Sophia Electric Aqua 274B rectifier and Sophia Electric 45 mesh plate power tubes in the Triode Lab 45 SET EVO integrated amplifier since it arrived here in November of 2020, and they just keep going strong and sounding great.  

The Aqua II 274B version looks a lot different than the original Aqua 274B. The glass bulb has a different shape, and the glass is a deeper blue in color.

I haven't looked closely at the inner structure of the Aqua II 274B yet, and it is a little hard to see through the blue glass. 

It's always fascinating and illuminating to hear what Richard has to say about the designs of his vacuum tubes, so I'll be interviewing Richard about the new Aqua II 274B in a future article to tell you the whole story.

I'm a huge fan of 274B rectifier tubes. They just do everything I want in a rectifier, like beautifully natural tone, a huge sense of recorded acoustic, gorgeous tone color, a vivid sense of presence, and excellent dynamics.

If you've got an amplifier that can utilize 274B rectifiers, you know what to do.

I just installed the Aqua II 274B rectifier into the Triode Lab 45 EVO SET integrated amplifier, turned on the Audio Note (UK) 5.1x CD player, and let them warm up.

Right now I am playing some electric era recordings of Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong on the Decca label, and the music is glorious. I love this music. 

The new Aqua II 274B rectifier is making a very positive first impression!

I'll be offering listening impressions on the new Aqua II 274B after I get adequate run-in hours on it, and will do some comparisons to the original Aqua 274B as well.

In due time the plan is to do a feature article about the new Sophia Electric Aqua II 274B rectifier for Positive Feedback, so stay tuned for that.

Just a word to the wise: Given the uncertain times we live in, and the havoc it can wreak on vacuum tube supplies, this would be a good time to lay up some 274B rectifiers while they're available. It's always good to have a few stashed away just in case.

A big "Thank you!" to Sue and Richard at Sophia Electric for sending me one of their new Aqua II 274B rectifiers so I can tell you about it, dear readers. 

As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!