rectifier in Brown Deluxe

[johnhenry]

My amp sounds harsh, or "cold" to me even though I just had it serviced and set to spec. I tried switching out a bunch of tubes with little success, then substituted a 5Y3 for my GZ34/AR4 and it really tightened things up. I know this is incorrect, but where do I go? Do I have another crack at it with the GZ34, or can I adjust it for use with a 5Y3? I know this is the rectifier used in a tweed Deluxe, for whatever that's worth. Thanks.

[Jahn]

what kind of speaker? is it a ceramic? i use a celestion blue in my brown princeton and it reveals the sag just fine.

[johnhenry]

It can't be the speaker. I've been through three, and an original Jensen P12N currently resides in there.

[RussB]

Harsh, cold = tight

loose, squish, bloom, spongy = sag

What does the amp have for filtering?

[slider313]

It could be the bias. The 5Y3 would bring down the bias current/plate voltage on your power tubes. They may be running too hot with the 5AR4. I use a 5R4 in my blackface Deluxe and a 5V4 in my DR. These amps were made when 115v was the norm. I'm getting 123v from my outlets mid day and 120v at night.

[johnhenry]

Harsh, cold = tight

loose, squish, bloom, spongy = sag

What does the amp have for filtering?
Thanks for the feedback everyone, and send more if you got 'em. I figured biasing to be a likely candidate when the 5Y3 made an improvement. RussB, unfortunately I'm quite challenged at anything beyond what my ears take in, but my tech told me he matched the settings from the schematics where there was any discrepancy. But back to my original question, is it unwise to alter the bias/plate voltages to use a 5Y3? It's plenty loud for my needs. One more thing: the output transformer had been changed at some point to a 022640 (I believe from a '68 DR)-- should this require anything be done differently? Thanks y'all.

[slider313]

You can use the 5Y3. The output transformer swap is not an issue. If it were the power transformer, it could be.