Vintage speakers for Leben CS300X?

[kjb]

Mine sounds pretty fine through some Devore Fidelity Super 8s - not vintage as such but must be 15-20 years old. The tone and timbre is spot on. Bass is not super deep but is rich and well defined with plenty of character.

I use them in a room 14ft x 10 ft with the speakers at most 7ft apart at the thin end. John Devore apparently designed them for his small NYC flat.

I'd love to hear the amp driving some big vintage Tannoys though

 

[Nagraboy]

@kjb

DeVore is an interesting brand. I’d love to hear the O/93 and O/96 with an appropriate valve amp. Think @G T Audio imports them?

 

[effinity]

The best I've heard Leben EL84 amp (though not X) version is with early 80s speakers from French Cabasse. Think of a Audio Note signature sound just less colored, less distorted in bass and more subtle and detailed across the range. To fire across a longer distance you better go for a 3-way such as Sloop or Clipper series (the speakers differ depending on vintage, some drive units are upgraded but generally they are all brilliant).
I personally own their active 3-way developed for Radio France International in the 70s (comparable to BBC), personally I found it a way superior to active version of 70s Spendor for BBC, such as BC1A. Wouldn't give them for anything.

I had similar thoughts after spotting these earlier……

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-...d=link&campid=5338728743&toolid=20001&mkevt=1

 

[anubisgrau]

a great spot though i've never heard anything bigger than cabasse 3-way and honestly i wouldn't bet these 12w would be enough to keep so many drivers in control...

 

[effinity]

Ok, possibly not, better stick with the plan, still ya never know

 

[Cato]

I had similar thoughts after spotting these earlier……

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-...d=link&campid=5338728743&toolid=20001&mkevt=1

I saw these too but are simply too big for my room .. even if the Leben could drive them which would likely be a challenge. But with a different room and set up I bet they sound v good

 

[tuga]

Objectively - the Leben has an excessively high ouput impedance and should be partnered with speakers of mid to high sensitivity (>90dB) and presenting an easy load.

Subjectively - whatever rocks your boat.

 

[Darren L]

@kjb

DeVore is an interesting brand. I’d love to hear the O/93 and O/96 with an appropriate valve amp. Think @G T Audio imports them?

Not any more, Absolute Sounds are now the distributor for DeVore, hth

 

[Cato]

Objectively - the Leben has an excessively high ouput impedance and should be partnered with speakers of mid to high sensitivity (>90dB) and presenting an easy load.

Subjectively - whatever rocks your boat.

Tuga, are you the same Tuga who has experience with the Diatone 610 single driver speakers? May just be your namesake of course, but a Diatone based speaker would be an interesting solution

 

[tuga]

Tuga, are you the same Tuga who has experience with the Diatone 610 single driver speakers? May just be your namesake of course, but a Diatone based speaker would be an interesting solution

I did own a pair years ago. I would only use them partnered with subwoofers. Single-driver speakers are too compromised.

 

[LPSpinner]

No one else has said it so I will, Yamaha NS1000’s. I use a pair with QUAD II’s, 15 watts of thermionic goodness. The Yammies are efficient, a dead Easy Load and quite Dynamic and punchy, without being harsh or shrill.

LPSpinner.

 

[PigletsDad]

What about JBLs? Something like 4425, 91dB, 8Ohm.

 

[highcut28]

Klipsch Heresy.
I heard the IV recently driven by a little Marantz integrted .
very enjoyable

 

[Cato]

Klipsch Heresy.
I heard the IV recently driven by a little Marantz integrted .
very enjoyable

Very good suggestion- I have thought about the Heresy and am keeping my eyes open for a pair. I’ve heard it’s bigger brothers, the Scalas, before and really enjoyed the open, fast and vivid presentation

 

[Nagraboy]

Just got home with a CS300XS and am trying it out with the Falcon LS3/5a in the near field. I’m using a zero-gain Croft phono-preamp into a line input on the Leben. First impressions with a few minutes of Giant Steps playing are very positive.

 

[SONDEKNZ]

We run the fabulous little LEBEN CS300F very successfully with a pair of mid 1980s MAGNAT ALL-RIBBON 6 - 3-way speakers.

The sound is magnificent and we have had friends with new, highly regarded speakers hounding us to sell them.

The same can be said for the superb MAGNAT ALL-RIBBON 2 - 2-way speakers, with slightly less bass.

We own both MAGNAT models and have several pairs stored, just in-case we have a failure - and need parts.

If you can find a nice pair of either MAGNAT model - with the original tweeters intact (ESSENTIAL!) - you will be in clover - and 15W is plenty, if you don’t plan to rock the neighbourhood.

We can pretty much afford to have any speaker we want - up to around $10k - but have never heard anything in that budget that compares. We have tried.

With a bigger budget, We would move to the brand new ESD PANDAs with Active Field Coils… but that requires quite a bit more investment.

Until we can afford some PANDAs, the MAGNATs are staying.

Works for us.

 

[paulfromcamden]

@Cato did you find some speakers?

 

[Metlor]

I think Cato has changed amplifier?

 

[Cato]

I think Cato has changed amplifier?

I am in the process - decided to keep my falcon ls3/5As and find a new amp instead of the other way around. The Leben is lovely for sure, but imo underpowered for the shoeboxes. So instead of selling the speakers I sold the amp - this said, I’ve yet to settle on a replacement

 

[RichardA]

I picked up a vintage Radford sta25 mk3 a couple of months ago. Has plenty of valve magic and also very good driving ability (eg quad 63s).

I would be surprised if a Radford wasn’t a good match for ls3/5a’s though obviously needs a preamp too.