“Of the current 12AX7s the Genalex Gold Lion seem to test and sound better than most IMO” Read
“They have excellent stage and dimensionality. They bring depth, breath and width to the music, especially with the mid range.” Read
Share this post:
2 thoughts on “Genalex 12ax7/B759 Russia”
I’ve been very skeptical about performance of new production tubes since the majority of them that I had, couldn’t compare to NOS tubes, but I decided to give the best production tube a try – Genalex 12ax7. I was not disappointed. The tube looks great, but as with all new production tube, it’s quite bulky looking – not quite elegant, but the gold pins and silk screen looks quite nice. I started with listening to it right out of the box and sure thing – it sounded like crap – very dry with horrific top. 24 hours into burn in, the tube started to open up, mids started to soften and the top was no longer as brittle. 48 hours later – the tubes became usable and close to pick of its performance with just very marginal improvements after that.
The tube actually did quite well – it’s still not as good as some of the best NOS tubes in areas of sound stage and air (it’s no Telefunken for sure), but it has great gain, superb bass and very lovely mids – vocals really shine through the tube – very gentle and open. Top is not as sweet as Amperex, but it’s a huge step forward for Russia made tubes, no more brittleness!!! We finally have a true alternative to old stock.
Overall, I really like the tube – it’s still not perfect, but this tube could be used and enjoyed in place of many NOS tubes. RECOMMENDED.
Agree with your review. I popped a pair into my old Quicksilver full-function preamplifier. My initial impressions were fairly positive but the top-end had a slight tizz and forwardness compared to the vintage Mullards I run. But as the hours passed, this forwardness became reduced and the soundstaging depth became better too. “I can live with this tube” was one of my comments and I normally do not like new production tubes.
I’ve been very skeptical about performance of new production tubes since the majority of them that I had, couldn’t compare to NOS tubes, but I decided to give the best production tube a try – Genalex 12ax7. I was not disappointed. The tube looks great, but as with all new production tube, it’s quite bulky looking – not quite elegant, but the gold pins and silk screen looks quite nice. I started with listening to it right out of the box and sure thing – it sounded like crap – very dry with horrific top. 24 hours into burn in, the tube started to open up, mids started to soften and the top was no longer as brittle. 48 hours later – the tubes became usable and close to pick of its performance with just very marginal improvements after that.
The tube actually did quite well – it’s still not as good as some of the best NOS tubes in areas of sound stage and air (it’s no Telefunken for sure), but it has great gain, superb bass and very lovely mids – vocals really shine through the tube – very gentle and open. Top is not as sweet as Amperex, but it’s a huge step forward for Russia made tubes, no more brittleness!!! We finally have a true alternative to old stock.
Overall, I really like the tube – it’s still not perfect, but this tube could be used and enjoyed in place of many NOS tubes. RECOMMENDED.
Agree with your review. I popped a pair into my old Quicksilver full-function preamplifier. My initial impressions were fairly positive but the top-end had a slight tizz and forwardness compared to the vintage Mullards I run. But as the hours passed, this forwardness became reduced and the soundstaging depth became better too. “I can live with this tube” was one of my comments and I normally do not like new production tubes.