Re: Chinese valves : Are they any good ?
I don't know about Chinese rectifiers, but the AR88 here has been running happily with a Russian "Coke bottle" 5Z4G equivalent for some years without a fuss- it's actually labelled GZ32 but the heater current of 2.0A (as opposed to 2.3A) suggests that it's nearer to the US-originated type in design. I suspect that there was a degree of importer re-labelling to suit the likely market at the time, or just best mark-up.... The AR88 is a fairly mild current load, and the low 4uF reservoir capacitance and relatively high-resistance chokes help thermionic rectifiers here, but it is somewhat more demanding on PIV rating than many radios.
|