(24 votes, average: 3.58 out of 5)
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2 thoughts on “Genalex B739/12at7 Gold Lion – Great Britain”
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Tube Maze
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I’ve been lagging behind recently on all the reviews that I need to write, but when I encountered this tube, I had to put away everything else and just listen to it. There is a lot of hype about Genalex – a lot of people consider their tubes to be the best in the world and rival the renowned Western Electric. In this case, I was not disappointed at all – first of all, I was not expecting a lot of 12at7, quite a few of them sound good as a driver, but as a preamp tube they are nothing special – except for some of them (see our reviews). This tube brought to the table what other 12at7 tubes are missing – it had balls. A lot of 12at7 just are too thin, this one has a body of a bodybuilder and the voice of an angel (quite a picture). Very tight, controlled and powerful bass with incredible mid-range similar to the Telefunken ECC803S. Very dynamic & transparent with just a touch of warmth. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
The Genalex B739 shown above was, of course, made by Mullard for the Genalex Gold Lion/M-O Valve company. It is 100% Mullard all the way. It is said that “extra stringent quality control and selection standards” were applied to incoming raw stock of Mullard ECC81/12AT7 tubes.. and that this extra selection process produced a consistently excellent supply of Genalex B739 labeled Mullard 12At7s. The Genalex B739s I have heard pretty much sound 100% like regular Mullards.. only they are 100% free of microphonics and noise. Just like Mullards they have a highly detailed midrange with great soundstaging and smooth, almost “liquid” treble– great tubes. Are they worth paying 10 to 15 times what a regular Mullard 12AT7 costs? Of course not. But the B739s are cool, collectible, and have that gorgeous eye-candy “Genalex” sticker on them. Better, though, to seek out the Mullard CV 4024, the much different (and far superior) British Military version of ECC81/12AT7 made by Mullard. These are still readily available, but with all the new Chinese gear that uses all 12AT7s, prices are climbing.