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Speakers for Leben CS300 XS

P

Pete Green

pfm Member
Hello, and thank you for reading this post -
It’s my first thread, long term pfm reader and fan -
I have a lovely cs300xs, wanting to scratch the valve itch, and wondered if anyone could recommend speakers to go with it? Up to £5,000 maybe ? I like Jazz/ Classical mostly

Pete
 
harbeth p3esr or maybe other harbeth and you dont need to spend 5k ..just make sure they have reasonable sensitivity
 
Audio Note, ProAc and Zu all worth looking at. How close will you sit and how loud will you play? Can the speakers be out into the room?
 
I ran my Leben CS300XS through a pair of Kudos X3's. Odd combination, admittedly, but it worked.

Mind you I also have a pretty small listening space, which helps.
 
kjb said:
My 300xs runs into some Devore Fidelity Super 8s to very good effect.

Devores are £££ new but older models can come in at a reasonable price. They are sometimes seen together. At some point I want to try some O93s with mine

DeVore–Leben | Stereophile.com
Click to expand...

As mentioned in an earlier thread about new speakers, there is a pair of Devores on ebay. It would be great if you bought them as they are setting off a personal itch which I am tempted to scratch.
It's a great amp, currently running mine into some Guru QM10s and sounding fab.
Let us know your eventual choice.
Cheers
 
Audio Note AN-E?.. Wilson Watt Puppy 5, have had a Leben 600 on mine, and also an original pair of Rogers ls3/5a sound epic on the end of a Leben, mine are the 15ohm version.
 
Thank you so much everyone, a lot to consider. Very kind of you to take the time. I put my system together partly through reading useful comments on pfm, and I love it to bits. I’ve spent 30 years working in studios and wanted a sound that was revealing but not like NS10s etc ( love them tho !). I went to a friend’s session in a small studio in N Camden last year, and the monitors were big tannoy 15” with leak TL 12s - and recording to tape - and it sounded amazing. So I am hugely respectful of that warm, fast sound as well.
 
Blue Belle said:
Audio Note AN-E?.. Wilson Watt Puppy 5, have had a Leben 600 on mine, and also an original pair of Rogers ls3/5a sound epic on the end of a Leben, mine are the 15ohm version.
Click to expand...
I’ve got some Ls3/5a that sound fab with my moonriver 404r, but a bit underpowered with my leben. I did read somewhere that Leben make a 300 with more suitable power for the Rogers , but I don’t really understand the tech. :( also the room I listen in is big, and I did get the leben for small rooms. But…. the Moonriver / Rogers combination was magical to my ears, with a good FM / digital / TT signal to feed it
 
glenda said:
As mentioned in an earlier thread about new speakers, there is a pair of Devores on ebay. It would be great if you bought them as they are setting off a personal itch which I am tempted to scratch.
It's a great amp, currently running mine into some Guru QM10s and sounding fab.
Let us know your eventual choice.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Yes will do- I’ve always wanted to hear some devores too. I’ve always loved Art Dudley’s writing in Stereophile etc, and I know he was a fan
 
Alex S said:
Audio Note, ProAc and Zu all worth looking at. How close will you sit and how loud will you play? Can the speakers be out into the room?
Click to expand...
Yes, I’m planning to have them in a smaller room/ bedroom perhaps. So nothing too loud. I think the proacs my studio friends all love were the 110s? Think they are hard to get now
 
How big is your room?

Anything from LS3/5a or Harbeth P3ESR, to Tannoy or Klipsch monsters would be very good.

In a smaller room, I’ve used P3ESR, LS3/5a and ProAc TR8 to good effect.
 
glenda said:
As mentioned in an earlier thread about new speakers, there is a pair of Devores on ebay. It would be great if you bought them as they are setting off a personal itch which I am tempted to scratch.
It's a great amp, currently running mine into some Guru QM10s and sounding fab.
Let us know your eventual choice.
Cheers
Click to expand...

The Super 8s for £1500 look like a bargain to me

I've not heard the stand mounts but there are some very positive reviews online
 
I got my 300XS from John @Midlandaudiox ,who is the UK distributor. He was a fan of the 300XS ( or the 600) and Harbeth. If memory served he recommended one of the larger models but I've been tempted by the p3esr as a second speaker option when they've come up here
 
I’ve used my 300x with a variety of speakers with generally positive results. IME the key matters are preferred volume, room size and type of music. I think that means that the OP will need to experiment to see what works best for him.

In my case I have a smallish room 14x12 with high ceilings and mainly jazz or vocals and I listen at low levels.

I found that the Harbeth SHL5 plus was very nice. Yamaha NS1000 also. Most recently I have been using Gradient 1.4 floor standers which are reported to need a lot of power. At the volumes I listen at plus using the 4ohm impedance selector, and the bass selector turned up one notch, I get a very pleasing sound.

I’ve never tried bookshelf speakers, though as already noted above, Harbeth ESR are often quoted as a good match.
 
The 300 is a lovely lovely sounding amp. Something about it is just right IME.
I think it will have it's say on any speaker choice but assuming your musical choice is not very extreme, I'd look at either the smaller Harbeth's, or possible Audionote UK's K type speaker. That latter combo would provide a little more sweetness and 'valviness' to creep through, and the Harbeth's possible a tad more neutral/accurate.
 
I have a 300xs with some Harbeth 30.2. I listen in the relative near-field and it does just does fine driving them.

I will add a caveat - it does notably alter the speakers FR, relative to what you may get with a SS amp. This may or may not be objectionable. This probably shouldn't be too surprising with a valve amp, but it does emphasise the importance of a home demo of any speaker to be paired with this amp.
 
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