JOMAN
|
It’s time for a follow up on the Philips Miniwatt Metal Base GZ34. It is now THE permanent rectifier for my UFO-25. Before I get into some of the specifics, a bit about the tube set in the UFO-25 and the cabling.
UFO-25 Tube set The rear VR Tubes: Raytheon (CEI Labeled) OA3 GT Bottle Front VR Tube: Sylavania OD3W Output Tubes: 6P15-EV (Decware Supplied) Input Tube: Telefunken PCC189
The cables are all Decware except the Coax which is a Snake River Audio, Boomslang:
ZSTYX Speaker cables (connectors Furutech Gold), DSR Silver Reference w/standard connectors, DHC1 Power cables with a mix of Furutech and Neotech Connectors. I have had these cables for some time so that I would have a base line to work with when tube rolling.
The amp was fast, dynamic and transparent from the outset but the Metal Base GZ34 has really shown what this amp is capable of.
The outstanding attributes of the Metal Base are Speed,Transparency, Resolution, Decay, and LIQUIDITY. A review of this tube refers to it as “minty cool” and it also states that it can make bring solid state qualities to a tube system. I would agree with “Minty Cool” but don’t take that to mean that it is somewhat cold sounding. It is not! While it isn’t ‘warm’ sounding it is utterly EUPHONIC! Perhaps even more so than some ‘warm’ tubes.
If you are familiar with the ARC sound of the late 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s, when Bill Johnson was the designer, when components such as the Classic 30, VT50, LS5, and the SP series of amps and pre amps prior to the change to the 6H30 tubes, were competing with CJ and McIntosh, that’s the type of sound that I relate to as cool and euphonic, and certainly not solid state like in any way.
That statement was made in the review to try to explain the type of bass that this tube produces, which is another of it’s very strong attributes, in fact the best of any other rectifier that I have had. Punchy, detailed but nothing that would make me relate to the bass of SS gear, at least not in the UFO-25!
The sound stage is also interesting in that it’s really not so focused on imaging. It is expansive and deep depending on the recording. If the recording is of a live event and well miked you will feel that you are in the audience, I mean REALLY there. The acoustic qualities of the venue will be very evident because of the incredible layering. If the recording is of a Jazz Trio, they will be IN YOUR ROOM with you. It just seems so REAL. The only other time I felt this to this degree was when I first auditioned an ARC/LP12/Magnapan Tympani system. That feeling of REAL is what started me down this path and stayed with me all these years.
The other attribute that I found surprising is it’s transparency when it comes to the signal that is being fed from other tubes and components. In my CSP-3 the output tubes are Siemens E88CC Grey Plates which sounded far more refined when feeding the Metal Base GZ34. I wanted to check myself on this so I rolled 6N5P’s. The sound was ‘warmer’ but with added emphasis on texture, with out any frequency being rolled off. I related it to the CJ sound, which was the runner up to ARC for me. Far better than the last time I had these in the CSP-3. I feel that the Metal Base GZ34 allows all the attributes associated components to come through, at least more so than any other rectifier I have had.
In summary I would say that the Philips Miniwatt is a rectifier with some very special qualities and it is quite unique. However don’t take this to mean that this should be the tube of choice for everyone. There isn’t one tube for all just as there isn’t one speaker for all. Budgets and tastes vary. This has been my experience and perhaps there’s something in all this that will be of benefit.
|