Are there any proud owners of Leben CS300 amplifiers here?

[Maciej]

Hi,

I was wondering if there are any users of Leben CS300 amplifier on this forum.
While ago there was a Leben amplifier (I believe it was CS300XS) in Cloney’s which I had opportunity to listen together with B&W PM1.
At that time I was impressed with it's lucid and organic sound but did not spend much time to judge the amp.

Thanks and regards
Maciej

[Adrian]

AFAIK..The Leben CS 300 uses EL 84's.

I used to have a AM201 amp which had 8 EL84's.... detailed sound but a bit on the dry clinical side for my ears, most probably down to incorrect speaker matching on my part.

I did hear a CS 300 with Harbeth P3ESR's a few years ago... very very nice indeed, I posted up a thread on it at the time.

[tony]

Fancied the CS300 one also. Got an opportunity at one point to buy one at a great price but didn't react quickly enough. I liked the fact the headphone section is very good and with the right speakers the 14w output would be fine. Never heard aCS300h but Adrian's CS600 is very nice
and if the 300 is built with the same quality it is worth checking out. If you get fed up with it I will swap my prima luna integrated and Little Dot headphone amp for it!

[Maciej]

Thanks for response guys,

I would love to listen one and compare against my Manley. Both amps should have similar signature at least the original 300 version. Since the first edition there were CS, XS and last F.

I had a chance to listen last F model with Chario Academy Sonnet speakers, and the sound was sublime, relaxed but with impact in low register with tones of detail but never abrasive.
Unfortunately I was not able to bring the amp back home in order to check it out in combination with the rest of my system, so just thought someone might have one here.

I should probably call Cloney and ask them if they still deal with Leben those days.

Regards
Maciej

[Adrian]

Some CD 300's come up on audio-markt.de from time to time..this one is in Poland.

Link here..

http://audio-markt.de/_markt/uploaded/0434808048_g.jpg

If you did bite the bullet on a 300... and kept if for a few years... you could always sell it on again... Leben are well regarded... and the majority of valve amplifiers are repairable if something goes wrong.

But speaker / system / room matching is important.... only one way to try!

[Diapason]

I had a 300h (I think it was h) on an extended loan when I was between amps. I thought it was a lovely piece of kit, sounded gorgeous, and warm but surprisingly open. Ultimately it didn't have *quite* enough juice for my speakers and tastes, but it was a close run thing.

[DaveF]

I also had the 300h on loan for a few weeks also. Actually ended up with it for more than 2 months. Lovely sounding amp but like Simon above it didnt quite have enough power for my speakers at the time, also a pair of Kharmas. I think that particular model had only 10watts per channel.
Given my well documented problems with those speakers at the time, I gave the Leben back. With other speakers I may well have kept it.

I think Absolute C*nts...sorry I mean Absolute Sounds are the distributors for Leben. Not exactly the easiest crowd to deal with from what I've heard.

[Maciej]

Some CD 300's come up on audio-markt.de from time to time..this one is in Poland.

Link here..

http://audio-markt.de/_markt/uploaded/0434808048_g.jpg

If you did bite the bullet on a 300... and kept if for a few years... you could always sell it on again... Leben are well regarded... and the majority of valve amplifiers are repairable if something goes wrong.

But speaker / system / room matching is important.... only one way to try!

I agree.

It takes a while to realize this. Good system is only 50% of success and in wrong arrangements probably less and best can sound awful. Synergy in-between individual components is equally important and the room acoustics are fundamental as well.

That’s why I stooped buying any equipment or declaring that I am going to buy before the it's checked and listen.

[Maciej]

I had a 300h (I think it was h) on an extended loan when I was between amps. I thought it was a lovely piece of kit, sounded gorgeous, and warm but surprisingly open. Ultimately it didn't have *quite* enough juice for my speakers and tastes, but it was a close run thing.

I tried to google for H model and all comes up is Lexus 300H.

I’d say speaker sensitivity around 90dB should be sufficient. Many users recommend Leben with Harbeth speakers and those are 85-86dB.
As Adrian said …. only one way to try.
I am still having hope there someone here on the forum.

[Diapason]

I tried to google for H model and all comes up is Lexus 300H.

Definitely never had one of those, but maybe that's what I'm thinking of! Maybe I meant CS300 rather than CX300? Does that make sense? Jaysus, my brain is shot.