Hi @paul172
To the best of my knowledge there are no NOS Genelex Gold Lions.
Straightwire,
Have you had any issues/compatibility problems with the Gold Lion 12AU7 in your BHK Preamp? Thank you.
None at all. All good. But I am getting a popping noise when I shut down the BHK Pre. I will investigate.
The tubes probably have over 1200 hours on them. After many system changes, I am going to try some vintage Telefunken AU7’s I have and did not like more than the Gold Lions. I might like a little more warmth back in the system. We shall see.
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Interesting, do you think NOS Telefunken tubes are warmer than the GL? IME GLs are my sweet spot in BHK Pre for their warmth and NOS Telefunken Mazda a well balanced solution for their clarity and realism in M1200s (thanks to @dchang05 suggestions).
Maybe your FR30s and BHK600s are playing a big role and different recipes are needed in different systems, as always.
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Sure, the system synergy always plays a part. But, I tried several vintage tubes in the BHK and thought they each had a luscious mid range, but they lacked the inner detail and dynamics of the Gold Lions. In the amps (BHK 300’s at the time) I favored vintage tubes, however, Amperex 60’s to be exact. I am going to put them in the 600’s some day but I am in no hurry. You are an early riser.
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This forum can be addictive!
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When I put both NOS Telefunken 12au7s into BHK and M1200, the sound was not as involving. The better combo is with GL in BHK, and Telef/Mazda NOS in M1200.
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Thank you for the information.
I was getting a popping sound from the left channel when shutting down my second system after replacing the tubes in my BHK Pre and M1200s, all with Genelex Gold Lion 12AU7’s. Changing tubes in the Pre did not make a difference, but changing the tubes (different new pair of Gold Lions) in the M1200 solved the problem. Go figure.
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I have testet both Gold Lions and Psvane 12AU7 in my BHK and they worked fine. No issues concerning pops and noise. There is however quite a big difference in SQ. The Psvane has a warmer sound, very nice midrange and voices and piano sounds more natural. The Gold Lions has stronger base, more punch and dynamic but midrange is a little colder and thinner. Drums with the Gold Lions are hitting harder😀I like them both so guess it depends what music you are playing.
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I like tube rolling. You can tailor the sound of your system to your tastes. I am a NOS guy. I initially replaced the stock Psvane’s with some clear top RCA’s which was an improvement over stock but I thought I could get more of what I was looking for sound wise and did. The Tube Depot had some Telefunken 12AU7 which were pulled from an organ. Yea , they aren’t NOS but the clarity from top to bottom with a holographic soundstage was just what I was looking for. Two hundred a pair is quite a bargain for the improvement they made in the sound quality.
I had a similar problem using the BHK Preamp and the BHK 250. The problem was related to a tube in the power amp. This after both the preamp and the amp made a trip to the factory. The ironic part is I had spare tubes and had tried them before returning the amp but the spares had the same issue.
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