Search for an Integrated Amplifier

Les Lammers · « **Reply #40 on:** 26 Feb 2008, 01:37 am »

Hey Dennis,

Enjoy the new amp. Greg7 has rolled a lot of tubes in his CS600. I think you got a fine piece of gear that will give you many years of great music.

Les

denjo · « **Reply #41 on:** 26 Feb 2008, 01:05 pm »

Thanks Les, I am thoroughly enjoying the Leben CS600 which sounds great even with stock tubes. I will certainly get in touch with Greg7 when I try some tube rolling experimentation.

Best Regards
Dennis

denjo · « **Reply #42 on:** 29 Feb 2008, 02:56 am »

The Leben CS600 has been in my system for a week today and I must say I am enjoying the music immensely! I am absolutely taken by how quiet the amplifier is - no hum, no hiss, no pops on start-up or turn-off!! Just turn "on", allow 20 seconds for the blue light to come on and music flows effortlessly, like liquid honey! I can even switch the amp off with the volume as it is because the music slowly fades as the amp discharges.

As for the music, that is the most important part! I feel so relaxed and non-fatigued listening to the amplifier. I feel no urge to swap cords, interconnects ... no desire to tweak here or there, not even the inclination to tube roll!! The bass boost is a great feature. Last night I was able to listen to music with the volume at very low listening levels, bass was at +5 dB, but the music held together as an organic whole rather than collapses, as is usally the case when the volume goes down.

I also tried the Leben with my son's newly acquired i-Grado headphones and must say that the headphone section of the amplifier is excellent!! I can well understand if someone uses the Leben for headphones only! It is that good!!

In brief, the Leben CS600 is supremely musical and continues to impress in a very self-effacing way!

Best Regards
Dennis

HiFiSoundGuy · « **Reply #43 on:** 1 Mar 2008, 01:20 am »

I would take a Almarro A318B tube integrated amp over any of these amps here http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/almarro5/318.html A friend of mine has one and its one of the best that I have ever heard period....I will be getting one soon!

denjo · « **Reply #44 on:** 1 Mar 2008, 04:21 am »

HiFiSoundGuy
Good to hear you found the amplifier you look! Yes, Almarro makes excellent amplifiers!

Have you heard the Almarro side-by-side with the Leben CS600?

Best Regards
Dennis

pardales · « **Reply #45 on:** 1 Mar 2008, 04:46 am »

Who sells the Leben?

denjo · « **Reply #46 on:** 1 Mar 2008, 05:49 am »

Pardales
Tone Imports are the distributors for Leben in US. www.toneimports.com

Best Regards
Dennis

Les Lammers · « **Reply #47 on:** 1 Mar 2008, 02:06 pm »

Quote from: pardales on 1 Mar 2008, 04:46 am

Who sells the Leben?

Call or e-mail Matt Rotunda at Pitch Perfect Audio in SF. He is a dealer and a good guy.

http://www.pitchperfectaudio.com/

HiFiSoundGuy · « **Reply #48 on:** 1 Mar 2008, 03:31 pm »

Quote from: denjo on 1 Mar 2008, 04:21 am

HiFiSoundGuy
Good to hear you found the amplifier you look! Yes, Almarro makes excellent amplifiers!

Have you heard the Almarro side-by-side with the Leben CS600?

Best Regards
Dennis

No I have not heard these two side by side BUT no two people are going to agree with me anyway.....ever person has their own tastes. You can do a google search for.....Almarro A318B tube integrated amp... and look at this thread.... forum.Klipsch.com/forums/p/101489/1024786.aspx

opnly bafld · « **Reply #49 on:** 1 Mar 2008, 03:39 pm »

Quote from: HiFiSoundGuy on 1 Mar 2008, 03:31 pm

Quote from: denjo on 1 Mar 2008, 04:21 am
HiFiSoundGuy
Good to hear you found the amplifier you look! Yes, Almarro makes excellent amplifiers!

Have you heard the Almarro side-by-side with the Leben CS600?

Best Regards
Dennis
No I have not heard these two side by side BUT no two people are going to agree with me anyway.....ever person has their own tastes. You can do a google search for.....Almarro A318B tube integrated amp... and look at this thread.... forum.Klipsch.com/forums/p/101489/1024786.aspx

HFSG are you trying to say that this post below doesn't mean much?

Quote from: HiFiSoundGuy on 1 Mar 2008, 01:20 am

I would take a Almarro A318B tube integrated amp over any of these amps here http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/almarro5/318.html A friend of mine has one and its one of the best that I have ever heard period....I will be getting one soon!

Lin

HiFiSoundGuy · « **Reply #50 on:** 1 Mar 2008, 03:49 pm »

Quote from: opnly bafld on 1 Mar 2008, 03:39 pm

Quote from: HiFiSoundGuy on 1 Mar 2008, 03:31 pm
Quote from: denjo on 1 Mar 2008, 04:21 am
HiFiSoundGuy
Good to hear you found the amplifier you look! Yes, Almarro makes excellent amplifiers!

Have you heard the Almarro side-by-side with the Leben CS600?

Best Regards
Dennis
No I have not heard these two side by side BUT no two people are going to agree with me anyway.....ever person has their own tastes. You can do a google search for.....Almarro A318B tube integrated amp... and look at this thread.... forum.Klipsch.com/forums/p/101489/1024786.aspx

HFSG are you trying to say that this post below doesn't mean much?

Quote from: HiFiSoundGuy on 1 Mar 2008, 01:20 am

I would take a Almarro A318B tube integrated amp over any of these amps here http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/almarro5/318.html A friend of mine has one and its one of the best that I have ever heard period....I will be getting one soon!

Lin

What ever floats your boat

HiFiSoundGuy · « **Reply #51 on:** 1 Mar 2008, 04:50 pm »

They are a lot of raves on the all new PrimaLuna Dialogue Two....do a GOOGLE search... http://www.audioreviews.com ..is one

selfdivider · « **Reply #52 on:** 8 Mar 2008, 03:28 pm »

Quote from: denjo on 29 Feb 2008, 02:56 am

The Leben CS600 has been in my system for a week today and I must say I am enjoying the music immensely!

I feel so relaxed and non-fatigued listening to the amplifier. I feel no urge to swap cords, interconnects ... no desire to tweak here or there, not even the inclination to tube roll!! The bass boost is a great feature. Last night I was able to listen to music with the volume at very low listening levels, bass was at +5 dB, but the music held together as an organic whole rather than collapses, as is usally the case when the volume goes down.

I also tried the Leben with my son's newly acquired i-Grado headphones and must say that the headphone section of the amplifier is excellent!! I can well understand if someone uses the Leben for headphones only! It is that good!!

In brief, the Leben CS600 is supremely musical and continues to impress in a very self-effacing way!

I'm also a Leben CS600 owner & I second everything said here. Leben's a rare amp in that although it's very fluid & liquid in presenting music as only the finest tube amps can, it resists categorization, because it's not a typical tubey, dark, colored amp. It's very honest & neutral, too, and has surprising dynamic impact. The supplied tubes are good, but as of now, I'm using Winged C 6L6GC, but will probably go NOS later, probably Sylvanias or try KT88 tubes, even. Greg7 is indeed a Leben guru by now. I've exchanged several emails & he's unfailingly helpful.

I'm using Harbeth Super HL5 speakers, which have tipped up mid-bass, so I don't feel the need for the bass boost. The music through the Harbeths, as Jeff Day at 6Moons will agree, is luminous. I'm sure on the Rogers, it's fantastic! Who knew that Brits & Japanese go so well together!

I use AKG701 as headphones, and the music through the headphones, while inferior to the speaker experience, is the best I've heard through the AKGs. The treble is less shrill, and the bass - finally! - came alive on 701 through Leben amp. I still think it would have been a slam dunk if Leben had included a phono stage, but oh well, life is not perfect.

denjo · « **Reply #53 on:** 9 Mar 2008, 12:43 am »

Hi Selfdivider

Thanks for your sharing of the Leben!

I think you are right about the Leben defying categorisation! I have read of your posts over at Audiogon (I believe) and must say that it was one of the factors that made me decide on the Leben.

I hope to own the Harbeths HL5 one day. I just bought a pair of Auditorium 23 cables but customs has retained it for the moment!!

Best Regards
Dennis

selfdivider · « **Reply #54 on:** 10 Mar 2008, 12:48 am »

Hi, Dennis. I'm definitely happy to run into another Leben devotee. More & more, I'm realizing its potential, as I've finally begun to roll tubes. I'm a really lazy audiophile but I can't believe I'd kept the stock Sovteks in there, as even if you don't go w/ NOS but with regular ol' Winged C, the sound quality improves tremendously. One of the things I'd initially worried about Leben when I auditioned it was that it might be bright up at the top, despite its incredible musicality. But I'm happy to find out that it was the Sovtek stocks! Can't wait to try some NOS tubes in there.

Harbeths are definitely nice w/ the Leben. I also have Plinius 8150, and it sounds tremendous through Harbeths, but compared to Leben, it sounds flat... has dynamics & great tone, but less... believable. Needless to say, the Plinius is sitting in the shade, unused, which is pretty remarkable as I still think the Plinius 8150 - not the newer incarnations - is one of the most musical SS integrateds out there...

denjo · « **Reply #55 on:** 10 Mar 2008, 01:23 pm »

Quote from: selfdivider on 10 Mar 2008, 12:48 am

... even if you don't go w/ NOS but with regular ol' Winged C, the sound quality improves tremendously. One of the things I'd initially worried about Leben when I auditioned it was that it might be bright up at the top, despite its incredible musicality. But I'm happy to find out that it was the Sovtek stocks! Can't wait to try some NOS tubes in there.

... the Plinius is sitting in the shade, unused, which is pretty remarkable as I still think the Plinius 8150 - not the newer incarnations - is one of the most musical SS integrateds out there...

Selfdivider

I am even lazier to try any tube rolling as suggested but I would still be keen to find out about your impressions with NOS tubes once you've had a chance to try them. Truth is, I am still gobsmack struck by the sheer musicality of the Leben that I don't feel any real urge - at least not for now - to experiment with tube roll. I guess once the honeymoon is over, I might feel tempted to move to NOS tubes.

Your statement about the Plinius is very strong affirmation of how musical the Leben really sounds! The Plinius is definitely no slouch!

I wanted to try my Leben with my Bent Audio TAP TVC as a preamp but for some reason the "preamp in" function does not work on my unit!! The dealer was surprised himself and remarked, this was the first "defect" he had encountered since taking up the dealership! But, he will be replacing my unit with a totally new one.

Best Regards
Dennis

selfdivider · « **Reply #56 on:** 11 Mar 2008, 05:55 pm »

Yeah, I didn't feel the urge to try other tubes, either, but I always had the sneaking suspicion that the slight over-brightness in the treble - which I always saw as the only minus of the Leben - was due to the stock Sovtek tubes. And I was right. The Winged C 6L6GCs, which are very affordable & pretty great sounding, totally fixed any harshness/brightness. Brought even more balance & midrange beauty to the sound. The decay & harmonics became more complex. It's like all of a sudden, the Leben is a $6500 amp, a total step up. For $80 a quad, I'll take that upgrade any time! I also tried the Winged C EL34 tubes. The sound becomes more extroverted & prominent. The midrange becomes VERY tube-like in warmth (if you like that kind of sound; I'm actually a bit ambivalent about it), and the bass gets a huge boost. The highs come forward, too. I don't know which I prefer more, the 6L6GC family or EL34... it really depends on the kind of music I'm listening to. 6L6 brings more subtlety & balance to the game & the EL34s more extroversion & up-front quality w/ a bit more dynamism. EL34s are definitely more tube-y in the traditional sense.

I hear NOS tubes will enhance the sound even more, but I think I'll wait for now & see. I recommend you emailing Greg, if you haven't already. He's tried a LOT of tubes in his Leben & will tell you more about tubes than I can.

That's too bad about the preamp-in. I haven't tried that function so I don't know. Hope all works out for you!

denjo · « **Reply #57 on:** 10 Apr 2008, 12:44 pm »

Quote from: denjo on 10 Mar 2008, 01:23 pm

I wanted to try my Leben with my Bent Audio TAP TVC as a preamp but for some reason the "preamp in" function does not work on my unit!! The dealer was surprised himself and remarked, this was the first "defect" he had encountered since taking up the dealership! But, he will be replacing my unit with a totally new one.

Turns out it was not a defect! When using the preamp in function of the Leben you must have the Leben volume control all the way up to 2 o'clock which will give enough play for the preamp volume control! So, the record is set straight - this was no defect, maintaining the dealer's record of zero defect for Leben products!

Anyhow, the dealer allowed me to change for a new set!

Best Regards
Dennis

denjo · « **Reply #58 on:** 13 Apr 2008, 04:14 pm »

Tried the Bent Audio TAP TVC through the Leben's preamp-in. For those who own or know of the sonic virtues of the Bent Audio TVC will already know this preamp excels in ultimate transparency, but I much preferred the Leben's integrated preamp which gave the music more body and organic whole than through the TVC. This observation will simplify my setup even more and probably require me to decommission from active service my beloved Bent Audio TAP TVC as I can see no advantage in having an extra piece of gear on my rack if it does not improve the music and enhance the musical experience. So, it looks like my ultimate objective of simplifying my system is truly working out for the better. At the moment, the Leben integrated provides superb amplification duties, with my SB3 feeding the Altmann (RCA) while my Oppo DVD feeds the Altmann via optical. My trusty Audiolab 8000 T and SOTA Sapphire provides analog duties. My superb ACI XL Force Sub is only used when I watch movies, otherwise the Leben's 5 dB bass boost provides enough bass support for normal music listening.

I am really beginning to appreciate the philosophy of "less is more"!

Best Regards
Dennis

Les Lammers · « **Reply #59 on:** 15 Apr 2008, 12:20 pm »

Ultimate transparency opened the door to audio hell for me. It just reveals all the flaws in average to poor recordings. I'll take musicality and involving sound. Personally, I'd like to have precision tone controls available on a pre or integrated.. That would kill 80% of the cable makers.