Mr Kipling
New Member
1997 IAG aquired Leak. I didn't dream it.
audiotools.com/en_links_iag.html
audiotools.com/en_links_iag.html
Leak?
- Thread starter yuckyamson
- Start date
Which is no bad thing
I don't buy into most Chinese stuff but the little Vena is quite good VFM, I ran one upstairs for TV duties.
People on the street can do a lot worse for that amount.
Nagraboy
Ausculta fili
Yes, the Vena looks good. If I needed a second system I'd think about one of those.
MotelBlues
pfm Member
Maybe a Delta 30, for Jez. What price a tweaked Arkless version, Marantz KI-style?
Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
FWIW I have worked out comprehensive mods for the Leak Stereo 30 Plus, Stereo 70 and Delta 30, 70 which I would expect to transform the performance but it would cost probably around £350-400 ish so I never pushed it...
I'm just not sure I'm into this "reimagining" of vintage stuff. It seems a bit pretentious and almost fradulent, like those cheap Amazon wood-effect record players and portable radios.
I'm sure it'll sound just fine, but.. It just makes a brand look like it has no confidence or ability to bring out new ideas. Things have moved on. Vintage audio is lovely but I'm under no illusion that it's better than what we have now. Who will buy this? Someone into vintage audio will want an "authentic" Stereo 30, and someone who isn't into the vintage aesthetic won't.
I'm sure it'll sound just fine, but.. It just makes a brand look like it has no confidence or ability to bring out new ideas. Things have moved on. Vintage audio is lovely but I'm under no illusion that it's better than what we have now. Who will buy this? Someone into vintage audio will want an "authentic" Stereo 30, and someone who isn't into the vintage aesthetic won't.
Darren L
Egalitarian
Not everyone goes for 'authentic' both Harley and Triumph have stayed afloat by reimagining vintage stuff and the modern versions don't even come close to the originals, though at first glance they're both recognisable as that " brand".
I would imagine this amp and whatever other products they release will be aimed at the type of person who may choose Wharfdale Linton Heritage speakers, those who want a new product with vintage looks, faff free modern connectivity at an affordable price.
I would imagine this amp and whatever other products they release will be aimed at the type of person who may choose Wharfdale Linton Heritage speakers, those who want a new product with vintage looks, faff free modern connectivity at an affordable price.
Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
I don't like the Triumph and Harley retro bikes either!
Agreed.
I would have thought the priority for the reborn Leak brand would be to drag the Troughline tuner and Sandwich speakers into the 21st century. I hope IAG don't release Leak speakers that merely reuse the drivers from Wharfedales etc. The Sandwich woofer was quite special in its time and it would be great to see it improved. Maybe Peter Comeau could appear in an advert standing on one
It worked for Harold.
Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
Agreed.
I would have thought the priority for the reborn Leak brand would be to drag the Troughline tuner and Sandwich speakers into the 21st century. I hope IAG don't release Leak speakers that merely reuse the drivers from Wharfedales etc. The Sandwich woofer was quite special in its time and it would be great to see it improved. Maybe Peter Comeau could appear in an advert standing on one
The Sandwich speakers were awful and the Troughline not much better...
The Stereofetic tuner (Delta FM the same) was pretty good and still be picked up cheap and the 2000 series tuners were good.
The Leak CD transport is almost certainly an Audiolab 6000CDT in different clothes but with USB added. Description of read ahead buffer and temperature controlled clock sound very familiar.
I have an Audiolab 6000CDT and performance is much better than a vintage Audiolab transport it replaced despite the modest price.
But the thought of 70's retro look CD transport is rather perverse
I have an Audiolab 6000CDT and performance is much better than a vintage Audiolab transport it replaced despite the modest price.
But the thought of 70's retro look CD transport is rather perverse
More bizarrely my first proper hifi was a hand-me-down Leak Stereo 70 and Stereofetic Tuner from my father. He moved onto a "real" Quad system after that and recently downsized to a Quad Vena amp, which this Leak is based on. As I said above I now have the Audiolab transport which I think this Leak transport is based on, so we still both have a kind of new Leak system
cjyosemite
pfm Member
Some years ago at the Manchester show, the Quad rep told me that the "old" British brands sold like hot-cakes in the far east. At the time they were demonstrating some speakers which the rep wanted to release under the Quad brand but the top brass had decided on one of these other names. Hi-fi is a world market & branding is a major factor in the business world. I would guess that Britain is not the main market they are aiming at.
Martyn Miles
pfm Member
BMW re-imagined the Mini and called it MINI.
To my eyes ( and the eyes of many others ) it is an appalling thing.
Rockmeister
pfm Member
I'd like the principle more if 'our' attempts to relaunch, or maintain the production of, older brands was in any way an unmitigated success. Think Norton, Hesketh etc. We do OK as a garden shed type maker, but who from the GB has had a success on a global scale re launching a heritage brand?
IAG make some very very fine products, and are using some of the best designers around to boot.
The groups internationally recognised hi-fi brands include Wharfedale, Quad, Audiolab, Mission, Luxman, Leak and Castle, with additional pro-audio and lighting brands including COEF, F.A.L and Quad Industrial too.
We can be picky about the graphics, some don't like retro at all, but these are a range of products that are very very good sounding, well made, well designed and most at a far cheaper price than their home made competitors.
I don't care who made them. If the Chinese are doing well, I expect it was a result of good planning, good business sense and hard work. The bugbear is cheap labour and poor working conditions. Those are what make me pause, but recent reports suggest this too is improving.
I just wish they understood type design and layout.
zippy
pfm Member
The man to be revered in those days was the man with a Stereo 70 !
The problem for most people, ie the market aimed at with tat like this Leak effort, is they won't pay for hand built UK/EU products because they're prohibitively expensive. Enthusiasts have less of a problem with that, but for your average Joe he'll take the cheap Chinese effort every time.
We can make reasonably priced kit, if you don't mind it turning up in a £5 project box with Dymo labels for the controls. I suspect though that your style conscious average customer won't be too happy with something like that sat on their sideboard.
This doesn't just go for Hi-Fi though, this is true across a whole load of different product markets, hence why cheap Chinese tat on Ebay is so popular and bricks and mortar shops can't afford to compete.
We can make reasonably priced kit, if you don't mind it turning up in a £5 project box with Dymo labels for the controls. I suspect though that your style conscious average customer won't be too happy with something like that sat on their sideboard.
This doesn't just go for Hi-Fi though, this is true across a whole load of different product markets, hence why cheap Chinese tat on Ebay is so popular and bricks and mortar shops can't afford to compete.
Snufkin
pfm Member
I was of that opinion at first, likewise the Beetle and the Fiat 500. I have slowly changed my view on all of them. Having experience of two of these 're-imaginings', I have grown to like them for what they are. I have changed my opinion so much that recently I even bought a Mini and its a great car even though its not the Issigonis original, its much, much better but it is the 21st Century so it ought to be. Still don't like that Leak thingy but I do like the look of those new Wharfdale speakers.
herb
brain's right hemisphere
True, but I next went for the flavour of the month, a beautiful Cambridge P50. That promptly blew up and the dealer said they all did that! He then sold me a Quad 33/303 and within a couple of years I had the full Quad system. Which was nice.