Gold Lion reissue 12ax7 vs. Mullard reissue 12ax7

@tablejockey  🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Let's pray the OP wasn't holding his breath in the 10 year absence of suggestions.

I bet he found his tubes in the last 10 years.

The Mullard are very hard to beat, I’ve tried the best Nos against them and they always came out on top. BUT they are not reliable. I will try the golden lions and get back to you.

cheers!

No_regrets, I ordered both and would have been able to compare but apparently I made a mistake while ordering the Psvane's and got 12at7's instead:-(

I did receive the Gold Lion reissue 12ax7's and put 3 of them in the line stage of my ARC SP16 - the previous tubes were cheap New Sensor (Russian) Svetlana reissues (very similar looking to the New Sensor made EH and Tungsol 12ax7's).
The Gold Lions sounded very good, big full tone, bolder and perhaps more dynamic than the Svetlana, very nice - but when I swapped the Svetlana back in the sound was more neutral (IMO) and more transparent. Transients were more lifelike and explicit with the Svetlana. Both sets of tubes were very quiet - as they should be in a line stage.
I can imagine that in some setups the sound of the Gold Lions would be welcomed - and I liked them - but I prefered the transparency of the Svetlana's in my setup.

Note: the Svetlana had the ARC tube damping rings on and I couldn't remove the rings to try on the Gold Lion (stuck on by heat), so this could have influenced the sound in the Svetlana's favour (or not).
FWIW my impressions were the same at all volumes and with quieter music, so I expect my general impression would persist regardless of the rings - but I'll get some more tube rings (of some sort) and try again with the Gold Lions.

Also worth noting that my SP16 was originally supplied with the New Sensor EH 12ax7's, so perhaps it's 'voicing' suits the New Sensor tubes(?).

Hello Lloydc,

Thank you for you response, as these are some of the types of things I was looking to hear about.

Hello Tpreaves,

I agree that the only way to know for sure how these tubes will work out is to try them all for yourself. I understand that there are always variables to take into consideration....equipment/circuits, different set of ears, etc. But I still like to hear about reliability issues, noise in certain applications, as well as how various people felt they sounded compared to other brands of tubes. Did they sound smooth or ruff, bright or warm, detailed or lacking in detail, extended or rolled off, etc. Knowing these types of user experiences tend to make me feel a little more confident in trying some new tubes instead of just completely buying blindly. Some of these new tubes are starting to get costly, and today's economic enviroment is still affecting me in a negative way.

Thank you to everyone for their comments and advice. I would still love to hear more about these various tubes....please keep the comments coming and share your experiences what ever they may be.

Thank you!

I did not have good luck with a couple of early Mullard reissues, poor reliability, but was told they later improved the quality control. Recently got a set of the PSVANE tubes, and like them quite a bit, for modern tubes. Used in a phono pre, they have a very slight hiss, but very nice midrange and bass, no lack in the highs that I have been able to id.

I don't know why this isn't getting responses but you could do a search for reputable tube dealers and then discuss what kind of sound you're looking for with one of them. They have the experience to help determine which tube might work best for you.

I know this is not the answer you're looking for but,you need to try them yourself,everyone perceives sound differently.

I would also be interested in hearing any comments in how the Shuguang PSVANE 12AX7-T would compare to the Gold Lion reissues and/or Mullard reissues.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.