Tony L
Administrator
Another piece of the jigsaw landed yesterday:
A 1961 Leak Stereo 20. It is in really tidy condition, barely a mark on it, and was apparently sympathetically serviced a couple of years ago with new caps etc. Thankfully no modifications other than a decent set of RCA input sockets and speaker posts (the original leak ones are naff to the extent of being barely usable), as such it's exactly what I've been looking for – I've been looking for a while, but held off buying a few that were a bit tattier or had been “tweaked” in any way – I want my Leak Stereo 20 to sound like one. It's stuffed with a decent set of tubes too: a Brimar ECC83 on the input, two Mullard ECC83s as phase splitters, a Mullard GZ34 rectifier and a set of Harma EL84s. I plan to stock up on these tubes a bit now, I'd certainly like a decent NOS set of 84s and a spare Mullard GZ34 as they are getting pretty scarce. It runs very nice and cool too, even after playing for many hours the mains transformer is barely lukewarm and the OP transformers remain cold to the touch. No signs of any heat issues underneath either, so looks like this one has had an easy life and behaved itself. I've got the manual and inspection tag too (20th March 1961, so it's got a couple of years on me!).
It seems very happy partnered with my Audio Synthesis PAS 02 stepped attenuator, the Stereo 20 is so high-gain I've no idea how anyone could actually use an active preamp with it.
I'm still getting my head around the sound as the differences between it and the Prima Luna Prologue 2 are quite subtle, yet I suspect rather important. Being honest I bought this as I wanted to 'finish' my vintage system, not because I was unhappy with the PL2 in any way. In many ways I was expecting a side-grade, maybe even a slight downgrade, but I just wanted to own a classic vintage amp. The first thing that is blindingly obvious is it sounds no less powerful. This has surprised me given we are talking 10 watts a channel vs. 35. Yet there it is. It just has bags of grunt into my, admittedly efficient, loudspeakers (15” Tannoy Monitor Golds). There is some real welly and scale on tap here, if anything it sounds bigger and more powerful than the PL2. Next thing that is evident is just how 'right' this thing sounds, it has a flowing, organic and liquid sound that doesn't shout 'hi-fi detail' at you in any way, but everything is there for the hearing in a beautifully natural and open way. The mid in particular is superb, so natural and believable on voice, acoustic guitar, sax etc. I'm loving this thing so far and I'm beginning to understand fully why the Leak / Tannoy combo is so coveted in the Japanese audio marketplace. I guess I've been following their lead for years now!
The only negative aspect is it is not as deathly quiet as the impeccably behaved Prima Luna. I live in a quiet area with hardly any ambient noise, especially late at night when I do much of my listening, and I can, just, hear a hiss from the listening seat, and more bizarrely, a slight hum on the phono stage that was simply not there previously with the PL. I assume the latter must be a proximity effect with either the phono stage or deck picking up the Leak a little electrically. It's not intrusive, so no huge deal.
I now plan to learn everything I can about these old amps, so any experiences from those who love / hate / are indifferent to them would be very welcome.
PS will update grainy dull photos if Greater Manchester ever sees proper daylight again.
A 1961 Leak Stereo 20. It is in really tidy condition, barely a mark on it, and was apparently sympathetically serviced a couple of years ago with new caps etc. Thankfully no modifications other than a decent set of RCA input sockets and speaker posts (the original leak ones are naff to the extent of being barely usable), as such it's exactly what I've been looking for – I've been looking for a while, but held off buying a few that were a bit tattier or had been “tweaked” in any way – I want my Leak Stereo 20 to sound like one. It's stuffed with a decent set of tubes too: a Brimar ECC83 on the input, two Mullard ECC83s as phase splitters, a Mullard GZ34 rectifier and a set of Harma EL84s. I plan to stock up on these tubes a bit now, I'd certainly like a decent NOS set of 84s and a spare Mullard GZ34 as they are getting pretty scarce. It runs very nice and cool too, even after playing for many hours the mains transformer is barely lukewarm and the OP transformers remain cold to the touch. No signs of any heat issues underneath either, so looks like this one has had an easy life and behaved itself. I've got the manual and inspection tag too (20th March 1961, so it's got a couple of years on me!).
It seems very happy partnered with my Audio Synthesis PAS 02 stepped attenuator, the Stereo 20 is so high-gain I've no idea how anyone could actually use an active preamp with it.
I'm still getting my head around the sound as the differences between it and the Prima Luna Prologue 2 are quite subtle, yet I suspect rather important. Being honest I bought this as I wanted to 'finish' my vintage system, not because I was unhappy with the PL2 in any way. In many ways I was expecting a side-grade, maybe even a slight downgrade, but I just wanted to own a classic vintage amp. The first thing that is blindingly obvious is it sounds no less powerful. This has surprised me given we are talking 10 watts a channel vs. 35. Yet there it is. It just has bags of grunt into my, admittedly efficient, loudspeakers (15” Tannoy Monitor Golds). There is some real welly and scale on tap here, if anything it sounds bigger and more powerful than the PL2. Next thing that is evident is just how 'right' this thing sounds, it has a flowing, organic and liquid sound that doesn't shout 'hi-fi detail' at you in any way, but everything is there for the hearing in a beautifully natural and open way. The mid in particular is superb, so natural and believable on voice, acoustic guitar, sax etc. I'm loving this thing so far and I'm beginning to understand fully why the Leak / Tannoy combo is so coveted in the Japanese audio marketplace. I guess I've been following their lead for years now!
The only negative aspect is it is not as deathly quiet as the impeccably behaved Prima Luna. I live in a quiet area with hardly any ambient noise, especially late at night when I do much of my listening, and I can, just, hear a hiss from the listening seat, and more bizarrely, a slight hum on the phono stage that was simply not there previously with the PL. I assume the latter must be a proximity effect with either the phono stage or deck picking up the Leak a little electrically. It's not intrusive, so no huge deal.
I now plan to learn everything I can about these old amps, so any experiences from those who love / hate / are indifferent to them would be very welcome.
PS will update grainy dull photos if Greater Manchester ever sees proper daylight again.