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Post by benmaz on Feb 17, 2020 10:15:41 GMT -7
Has anyone tried the $25 Genalex Gold Lion ECC83 Standard?
It is different than the $45 Genalex - Gold Lion ECC83/B759 (Premium).
The premium Gold Lion is made in Russia and has long plates, like the Sovtek lps and Mullard 12ax7. I think it is also a gold pin.
I've tried the premium and it sounds great, but I'm not sure about using a long plate tube in a combo. (I was using a Sovtek 12ax7 lps as a phase inverter but it started rattling on me, so I swapped it out for a Svetlana 12ax7 which also works well.)
The standard Gold Lion is made in China and has shorter plates. It looks like the Tung Sol, EH, Svetlana 12ax7 and Mullard cv4004, but they are all made in Russia, not China.
Anyway, I really like the Russian Mullard cv4004 in the Maz 18. And I thought the Gold Lion ECC83 Standard might be even better. But, unlike all the other tubes I mentioned, it is made in China. And I haven't had good like with Chinese 12ax7's.
P.S. Could this be any more confusing? I wish the manufacturers would explain what the difference is between a Mullard cv4004 and a Svetlana 12ax7 (neither one is the real thing), but of course they don't. So you either have to go by a review or try it yourself, both of which options are less than ideal.
Anyone try a Chinese Genalex Gold Lion STANDARD? How does it compare to the other shorter plate Russian tubes?
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Post by wraparound (Steve) on Feb 28, 2020 16:50:10 GMT -7
I just wanted to acknowledge your question here and say it is less than the best in terms of information from the tube manufacturer. I would suggest an email to KCA tubes and see what he says. He'll know.
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Post by benmaz on Mar 2, 2020 14:41:07 GMT -7
Thanks.
There is now a third version of this "Gold Lion" tube.
The first "Gold Lion" is a $45 long plate made in Russia. It has gold pins.
The second "Gold Lion" is a much cheaper short plate made in China. It has silver pins.
The third "Gold Lion" is another cheaper short plate but it made in Russia and has gold pins. This version is labelled Gold Lion cv4004.
I'm not sure why Sovtek seems to be going out of its way to confuse the crap out of consumers. We have three versions of the Gold Lion (the Russian long plate, Chinese short plate and Russion cv4004), two versions of the Mullard (the long plate and the cv4004), two Tung Sols (silver and gold pin) and two EH (silver and gold pin). And one version of the Svetlana and one Sovtek "lps".
That's 10 different labelled but similarly constructed 12ax7 preamp tubes, and they are all made by the same factory!
For what its worth, I think it is fair to say the long plates have more gain than the short plates. The Gold Lion long plates are the most expensive. I've read the Tung Sols are brighter, the Mullards are pretty balanced, and the Svetlanas are warmer. The EH are the least expensive and the "lps" works well as a phase inverter.
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