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Leak Stereo 20

"A modern PCB has allowed a new approach to the original tag board layout dispensing with the under board spaghetti interconnects that caused crosstalk buzz and hum."

Says it all. A proper Leak factory made ST20 or a properly restored one didn't suffer from crosstalk, buzz or hum. The internal wiring was well done by Leak and was not under board spaghetti! No mention of what expertise or credibility the man behind Valvepower (a Steve Smith from Surrey apparently) has...
 
I’m amazed it is even possible as a new product at that price. I’d like to see the insides.

To my mind the beauty of a Stereo 20 is the fact anyone with genuinely good soldering skills can restore one to an exceptionally high standard themselves just by replacing components sympathetically and not thinking they are in any way brighter than the original designer. The restoration journey and pride of saving a classic piece of audio history is all part of fun of ownership. I’ve since let my (bronze) Stereo 20 go as I just didn’t need both it and the even cuter pair of TL12 Plus, but I really enjoyed the whole process this thread documents. Still got the boxed grey one in my spare kit pile, but I can’t see myself restoring that as I just don’t need it.
 
chiily said:
That's quite an amp for £1,000. I promise not to mention my pet peeve about the phono connectors :p

I would have liked to seen some inside shots.
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Must confess I wish I’d used more vintage looking types when I did my Stereo 20 rebuild, in hindsight. Though the Rean ones do the job very well and are reliable.
 
Tony L said:
I’m amazed it is even possible as a new product at that price. I’d like to see the insides.

To my mind the beauty of a Stereo 20 is the fact anyone with genuinely good soldering skills can restore one to an exceptionally high standard themselves just by replacing components sympathetically and not thinking they are in any way brighter than the original designer. The restoration journey and pride of saving a classic piece of audio history is all part of fun of ownership. I’ve since let my (bronze) Stereo 20 go as I just didn’t need both it and the even cuter pair of TL12 Plus, but I really enjoyed the whole process this thread documents. Still got the boxed grey one in my spare kit pile, but I can’t see myself restoring that as I just don’t need it.
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I’m impressed at that price too. Wondering if it might be the same chap that does various vintage amp spares (inc. Stereo 20 base plates - think you bought one Tony iirc?) on eBay. Steve025?

By sheer coincidence got my Stereo 20 out of storage last night and was reminded again of just how incredible these amps are. There’s just something so right about them. This morning I have the stress of trying to chase down the cause of the left channel cutting out which is proving elusive! Grrrrr. Best laid listening plans…

Edit : Confirmed as Steve025. PCB looks pretty much identical to the English Acoustics one :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265845951399
 
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John_73 said:
Must confess I wish I’d used more vintage looking types when I did my Stereo 20 rebuild, in hindsight. Though the Rean ones do the job very well and are reliable.
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That choice was denied me with my Stereo 20 as I was fixing someone else’s restoration. It always bugged me a little. When doing the TL12 Plus I retained the original octal inputs and just made up some interconnects with a bakelite octal plug at the amp end. From the front they look totally original. I did replace the speaker connectors with new ones on their own plate (from Radford Revival), but I’ve still got the originals so it is fully reversible. Unlike the Stereo 20 the TL12 Plus have a very clearly defined front and back, so the speaker connectors are out of view.

John_73 said:
Wondering if it might be the same chap that does various vintage amp spares (inc. Stereo 20 base plates - think you bought one Tony iirc?) on eBay. Steve025?
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51930798530_b50406348f_b.jpg


No idea if it is the same person, but I got a pair for the TL12 Plus too. I’d be curious to know if that would be enough to get it through a modern PAT test?! I assume you’d need a power switch (which my amps don’t have, I turn stuff on/off at the mains block). It certainly makes it vastly safer given there’s 350V knocking about in there!
 
The main change for modern regulations would be the replacement of the Bulgin mains connector which fails to meet modern requrements, not without good reason.

It should be remembered that these amplifiers were not designed to to be on open display, they were buried at the bottom of the cabinet and all the user saw was the front of the preamp.

If the Valvepower unit is built to modern standards and has the required documentation to prove it the price is truly remarkable for what must be a very low volume product.

I`m not sure of the regulations concerning naked glass valves without an ugly perforated cover, such as the modern Quads have.
 
The similarity to the English Acoustics is huge, I assume they are related? Maybe these are some early prototypes/pre-production samples. My bet is the Leak logo on the circuit board is now owned by IAG and could present legal issues. I very much doubt it exists anywhere on the full retail English Acoustics amp.

It looks like a real bargain regardless. There is a serious amount of work and decent components in there before one even considers getting transformers wound. It has to be offloading early versions, no way is that viable as a business. I wonder if the chassis are refurbished originals bought long ago as basket cases? I’m suspicious enough that I’d suggest anyone who wants one buying swiftly as I doubt they’ll be around for long at that price! I just can’t see any room for a profit margin there.

PS Shame they binned the 16 Ohm tap, that is the one of choice for ESLs, LS3/5As, classic Klipsch, early Tannoys etc, i.e. a lot of speakers a Leak gets partnered with. That’s how I run mine for JR149s, LS3/5As, the 8 Ohm tap better for the Monitor Golds downstairs.
 
chiily said:
The PCB looks a match to the turret board, almost. And the caps looks decent quality, what one would use in a rebuild.
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Wondering if the initial design of the pcb and output transformers was a joint venture perhaps. At any rate, assuming the output transformers are as good as the blurb suggests, it would seem to offer amazing value for money. If I had unlimited funds would order one of these along with a Radford Revival amp.

As an aside, I’d be very interested if pcbs designed to fit the original Stereo 20 (and its chassis punched standoffs) ever became available. Would be a more conveniant way to change from - say - carbon comp and paper in oils, to carbon or metal film and more modern caps if one fancied a change of sound etc. Obviously not for very good condition Stereo 20s which would be heresy, but those that needed a lot of TLC anyway with broken boards etc.

(I do like the idea of building a modern classic from scratch, in fact slowly doing just that with a Quad II and transformers from Majestic.)
 
Tony L said:
That choice was denied me with my Stereo 20 as I was fixing someone else’s restoration. It always bugged me a little. When doing the TL12 Plus I retained the original octal inputs and just made up some interconnects with a bakelite octal plug at the amp end. From the front they look totally original. I did replace the speaker connectors with new ones on their own plate (from Radford Revival), but I’ve still got the originals so it is fully reversible. Unlike the Stereo 20 the TL12 Plus have a very clearly defined front and back, so the speaker connectors are out of view.

No idea if it is the same person, but I got a pair for the TL12 Plus too. I’d be curious to know if that would be enough to get it through a modern PAT test?! I assume you’d need a power switch (which my amps don’t have, I turn stuff on/off at the mains block). It certainly makes it vastly safer given there’s 350V knocking about in there!
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I wish I’d ‘forward thought’ the phono socket business through to my mindset as it is now! Still it’d be fairly easy to change them again, though a lot of faffing for a cosmetic change really.

I too have modern loudspeaker sockets fitted too, and got a plate made up and colour matched to the chassis for an on/off rocker switch (no chassis alterations!). Suits my needs with the modern Quad Artera Pre I’m currently using it with, and speaker cables etc. I had to repaint the transformer cowls too so it’s already far from being original alas.
 
John_73 said:
Wondering if the initial design of the pcb and output transformers was a joint venture perhaps.
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I’ve just spent five minutes comparing pictures on the English Acoustics Facebook page and the eBay listing upthread. I’d put money on the PCB being from the same Gerber file! It is the same aside from the logo silk-screen.
 
John_73 said:
As an aside, decided to splurge on the input valve for my stereo 20. Wouldn’t usually spend so much on a single valve, but that position seems to be critical in the Leak, and hopefully it’ll see me out in terms of years of use
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If what turns up is the same as in the picture it is a 1963 Blackburn-made I61 (the codes are visible!), so a very nice sounding ECC83 IME. I’ve got quite a lot of Mullard ECC83s of various types and the I61 is the type I run in my Verdier pre (phono stage). I ran a set in the Stereo 20 too.
 
Tony L said:
If what turns up is the same as in the picture it is a 1963 Blackburn-made I61 (the codes are visible!), so a very nice sounding ECC83 IME. I’ve got quite a lot of Mullard ECC83s of various types and the I61 is the type I run in my Verdier pre (phono stage). I ran a set in the Stereo 20 too.
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I hope that it is the same. Should have the copper supports too. And hopefully should last a lifetime.
 
Tony L said:
I’ve just spent five minutes comparing pictures on the English Acoustics Facebook page and the eBay listing upthread. I’d put money on the PCB being from the same Gerber file! It is the same aside from the logo silk-screen.
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Says Revision 1.3 on the Valve Power iteration of the PCB. Wonder of that’s an earlier version compared to the English Acoustics one?
 
John_73 said:
I hope that it is the same. Should have the copper supports too. And hopefully should last a lifetime.
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I’ve never had one go noisy, sound poor, or measure less than ‘good’ on my little Orange tester. Most of mine are used pulled from old equipment too. They just keep on going!

John_73 said:
Says Revision 1.3 on the Valve Power iteration of the PCB. Wonder of that’s an earlier version of the English Acoustics use?
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The confusing thing is the English Acoustics branded board pictured on Facebook is version 1.1! It is very strange, but I’m convinced it is the same thing and it wouldn’t surprise me if the branding changes were fully down to IAG getting hold of the Leak name first. It would be interesting to do some digging on Companies House, Registered Trade Marks etc to see who applied for what and when. IAG obviously know their way around this stuff rather well by now!
 
Tony L said:
The confusing thing is the English Acoustics branded board pictured on Facebook is version 1.1! It is very strange, but I’m convinced it is the same thing and it wouldn’t surprise me if the branding changes were fully down to IAG getting hold of the Leak name first. It would be interesting to do some digging on Companies House, Registered Trade Marks etc to see who applied for what and when. IAG obviously know their way around this stuff rather well by now!
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That’d make sense. I wonder if IAG are considering a modern Stereo 20 recreation too, now that they’ve had some success with the Leak branding, and they’ve already tested the market to a degree with the Quad II recreations, out for well over a decade now.

Just saw this over at Lenco Heaven. Seems like the English Acoustics chap holds the rights to the Radford brand?

https://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=oot35aaabqar74v04ooc607g43&topic=38546.15
 
John_73 said:
Seems like the English Acoustics chap holds the rights to the Radford brand?
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That is surprising and I expect hugely concerning for Will @Radford Revival who has been marketing superb amps under that brand long before English Acoustics turned up. Trade Marks etc can be a nightmare to navigate, thankfully I got a lot of help when protecting pfm.
 
Tony L said:
That is surprising and I expect hugely concerning for Will @Radford Revival who has been marketing superb amps under that brand long before English Acoustics turned up. Trade Marks etc can be a nightmare to navigate, thankfully I got a lot of help from @tones when protecting pfm.
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Yes I immediately thought of Radford Revival. I’d love to buy one of his STA25 amps - a thing of beauty inside and out. I hope this wouldn’t change anything, though notice that post was dated 2021 so perhaps it’s all been ironed out, if there was anything to iron out.
 
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