advertisement


Leben cs 300 xs - speaker matching

L

lidsmoes

pfm Member
Greetings!
I've just taken possession of a Leben cs 300xs integrated amp. I've had a lot of different amps over the years, but to me the Leben represents a near perfect balance between timing, speed and dynamics on the one hand and the representation of tonality, space and atmosphere on the other. It's a great tool for listening to music!

At the moment it drives a pair of Snell J3 in a room of 20 m2. They sound great, but the speakers are rather large. I would very much appreciate some recommendations on suitable smaller or bookshelf speakers for the amp.
Does anybody have first hand experience with small to medium sized speakers on the Leben? Fx: ProAC, Guru, KEF, Spendor, Totem etc?

I'd appreciate reference to specific models and how they work with the amp - fx a description of the synergistic effect

best regards, Lars
 
Hi Lars.
I have the same amp and agree on it's attributes. The only advice I would give you is to try and find a high efficiency speaker. The Leben will drive the normal 87dB speakers but with only 15 (rather muscular tube) watts the higher the efficiency the better IMO. Oh yes I changed tubes to Mazda and that was a definite improvement and am about to try Mullards soon.
 
lidsmoes said:
Greetings!
I've just taken possession of a Leben cs 300xs integrated amp. I've had a lot of different amps over the years, but to me the Leben represents a near perfect balance between timing, speed and dynamics on the one hand and the representation of tonality, space and atmosphere on the other. It's a great tool for listening to music!

At the moment it drives a pair of Snell J3 in a room of 20 m2. They sound great, but the speakers are rather large. I would very much appreciate some recommendations on suitable smaller or bookshelf speakers for the amp.
Does anybody have first hand experience with small to medium sized speakers on the Leben? Fx: ProAC, Guru, KEF, Spendor, Totem etc?

I'd appreciate reference to specific models and how they work with the amp - fx a description of the synergistic effect

best regards, Lars
Click to expand...

IME the Snell J can be quite muffled and muddy especially the bas notes are not very precise but smeared, not sure if J/3 are worse in that dept than original Snell J, the latter however can perform a nice midrange.

In such a small room I'd take K anyday (not K2) or the Audio Note version but these are insane expensive and the original Snell K are quite difficult sourcing nowadays.

Of other suited speakers comes up, Triangle, Rega Ela/RS1, some Royd types maybe Heybrook Quartet.
If you wish to play loud, then some horn or 95+db speakers is needed I'm afraid

Wonder what Leben recommend or use ?
Quad 57 ?
 
Thank you all for your replies!
Snell type K have crossed my mind, but as Per writes, they're rather hard to find - especially in good cosmetic and mechanical shape...
I've no need to play loudly. It's much more important for me to be able to reproduce dynamics at low listening levels..

Keep 'em coming! :)
 
Hey:

Believe it or not the Leben 300 works great with Totem Staffs. A local dealer here
in St louis USA Demo's the 300 with these quite often to customers amazement.
It's one of those things that you wouldn't think would work as the Staffs are a typical
8ohm/88db sensativity spec. I've heard this setup enough to think with good sources this is where a sane person might stop:) 300 also work well with Devore Gibbon 3xl and
the new Orangutan 93's but those are more$$$$.

Tdiddey
 
tdiddey said:
Hey:

Believe it or not the Leben 300 works great with Totem Staffs. A local dealer here
in St louis USA Demo's the 300 with these quite often to customers amazement.
It's one of those things that you wouldn't think would work as the Staffs are a typical
8ohm/88db sensativity spec. I've heard this setup enough to think with good sources this is where a sane person might stop:) 300 also work well with Devore Gibbon 3xl and
the new Orangutan 93's but those are more$$$$.

Tdiddey
Click to expand...

It still amazes what a good valve integrated can do on a variety of speakers that one would not necessarily think they would work with.
 
I run a Leben CS300X, which is a shade less powerful than the SX version, but with Mullard EL84s, into Kudos X2s. On paper it shouldn't work but in my small listening room area it does, IMO superbly!
 
Hey:
I've heard the Leben 300xs with the Rega RS1's and although I'm
generally a fan of Rega speakers to my ear it was less than optimal.
Proving again specs never tell the whole story as the Rega's are
8ohm/90db which on paper would look good.

I've been told Hyodo San uses some older classic JBL Moniter speakers
(don't know the model)and is a fan of cheap Belden speaker cable.

Tdiddey

Of other suited speakers comes up, Triangle, Rega Ela/RS1, some Royd types maybe Heybrook Quartet.
If you wish to play loud, then some horn or 95+db speakers is needed I'm afraid

Wonder what Leben recommend or use ?
Quad 57 ?[/QUOTE]
 
Interesting thoughts about synergy with Devore, Kudos and Totem speakers. I'm not familiar with any of them, but it's good to have something to explore ;o)

Anybody else?
 
Apologies for hijacking this thread and taking it slightly off topic, but with so many Leben owners around it's too good an opportunity to miss. I have the CS300SX and CS600 on my demo list. Did any of you compare either of them with equivalent offerings from Accuphase (E260, E360) or Luxman (L505u)? Any views?
Matt
 
mattgbell said:
Apologies for hijacking this thread and taking it slightly off topic, but with so many Leben owners around it's too good an opportunity to miss. I have the CS300SX and CS600 on my demo list. Did any of you compare either of them with equivalent offerings from Accuphase (E260, E360) or Luxman (L505u)? Any views?
Matt
Click to expand...

I have owned the cs600; wonderful amp. Fabulous build qualiy, great finish and good sound. For me, Leben is a class above the others, more of a 'boutique' firm. At this level, sound is just one of the issues but no solid state amp will perform like a great valve amp..but they will be very powerful, in reality you never get it all. I'm puzzled that you are considering totally different types of amp.
For me, Leben CS600, easily. The 300 is not really powerful enough, the solid state amps are...solid state. Nice choice to be able to make....consider Shindo if you really like Japanese boutique. Tom Tom import them, I think.
 
tdiddey said:
Hey:

Believe it or not the Leben 300 works great with Totem Staffs. A local dealer here
in St louis USA Demo's the 300 with these quite often to customers amazement.
It's one of those things that you wouldn't think would work as the Staffs are a typical
8ohm/88db sensativity spec.
Click to expand...

This is Charlie Schnyder at St Louis Stereo, yes? I've exchanged some emails with him a while back and thought he was a great guy; not only is he highly knowledgeable and honest about hi-fi, he also has great taste in music.

I got in touch with Charlie because he sells Harbeth, Leben and Devore, all of which I like, and I was considering trying a Leben 300 with Harbeths, but he said no way, just don't do it - you'll lose all the dynamics. He mentioned the Staffs revelation then. Basically I trust him implicitly, and if he says a combination works it is very much worth trying.
 
Hey:

No Im not Charlie. I'm Tdiddey(TonyF). I know Charlie Good gentleman @ St Louis Stereo. He told you right. Harbeth's are great but not w/ Leben 300.
That's where I've heard the Leben300 Staffs combo a number of times.
Another wacky good combo that was amazing.Rega RS7 and the
Leben Pre and CS660(?) power amp. Tube Beauty and Rocking at the same time. Again you tell folks about that and they look at you funny but I've heard it.
T Diddey


Elephantears said:
This is Charlie Schnyder at St Louis Stereo, yes? I've exchanged some emails with him a while back and thought he was a great guy; not only is he highly knowledgeable and honest about hi-fi, he also has great taste in music.

I got in touch with Charlie because he sells Harbeth, Leben and Devore, all of which I like, and I was considering trying a Leben 300 with Harbeths, but he said no way, just don't do it - you'll lose all the dynamics. He mentioned the Staffs revelation then. Basically I trust him implicitly, and if he says a combination works it is very much worth trying.
Click to expand...
 
No, I didn't think you were Charlie - I identified the 'local dealer' you mentioned as him. You're lucky to have such a store nearby. Keep us posted on these combinations they are coming up with. Interested to hear about the TT's they use too - I imagine they are excited about the Versalex at the moment.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top