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Leben. Thinking something drastic here.

Caseworker said:
Wait, now you're looking at another pair of speakers?

I must have missed something. Are those the modern 500 version, or of the vintage variety? Just curious. Better start selling! :)
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A good friend of mine picked up a pair of Cabasse Sloops, older ones, they look like M4s? Heavy wood cabinets, stepped front baffle, big woofer that stands off of the front a bit..I have no idea how old they are, but they look nice and were something I just want to play with for a bit. I liked how they sounded on his Sansui Au-x901 but he buys and sells stuff for a living and can't keep them. I might not get them..he's bringing them over to hear them on my amps.

A lot of stuff comes and in out of here in short time periods...the core systems stay, and I just play with random things for kicks. The Harbeths, Quads, and Sony SS-m7s are the constants.
 
JohnVF said:
...I went through three different amps last night out of my own curiosity...
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Clearly, you have time and energy and dedication that I can only envy. Changing my main amps around is an excruciating half-day challenge, followed by large doses of Alleve.
 
Negotiableterms said:
Clearly, you have time and energy and dedication that I can only envy. Changing my main amps around is an excruciating half-day challenge, followed by large doses of Alleve.
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I wish I had a picture of my system now...the amps sit on two low amp-stands between the speakers. And when I switch things, I just end up with a stack of amps, which is how it looks this morning. The CD player has a preamp and the Eico integrated stacked on top of it (its a big CD player). The Levinson has the Dynaco sitting on top. Big pile 'o gear...and I did the switching all in the course of the one hour of free time that I had last night, listening to the same two songs on each.

I think this is fun? I don't know anymore.
 
JohnVF said:
I wish I had a picture of my system now...the amps sit on two low amp-stands between the speakers. And when I switch things, I just end up with a stack of amps, which is how it looks this morning. The CD player has a preamp and the Eico integrated stacked on top of it (its a big CD player). The Levinson has the Dynaco sitting on top. Big pile 'o gear...and I did the switching all in the course of the one hour of free time that I had last night, listening to the same two songs on each.

I think this is fun? I don't know anymore.
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I wish I had a big open space like you have. I recently got another amp that I want to try out with my DQ-20s. This means I'll be moving the Sony amp downstairs to drive the Super Towers. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit in a standard rack, (too wide) so I have to put it on the very top, (which is a frightening prospect to begin with as it weighs >70lbs) but also means I need to make some custom length speaker wires and dig around for some different RCA's to make it work. So, it's been sitting for 2 weeks until I find the time to take on the project.

I can see how having enough space, and being able to just swap amps could be enjoyable, and quick enough to listen to multiple amps for AB testing.
 
Caseworker said:
I wish I had a big open space like you have. I recently got another amp that I want to try out with my DQ-20s. This means I'll be moving the Sony amp downstairs to drive the Super Towers. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit in a standard rack, (too wide) so I have to put it on the very top, (which is a frightening prospect to begin with as it weighs >70lbs) but also means I need to make some custom length speaker wires and dig around for some different RCA's to make it work. So, it's been sitting for 2 weeks until I find the time to take on the project.

I can see how having enough space, and being able to just swap amps could be enjoyable, and quick enough to listen to multiple amps for AB testing.
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I've also fitted my amps with banana plug adaptors for speaker cable switching...a very convenient thing to do, as the old tube amps have screw terminals. I HATE screw terminals.
 
marantzfan said:
Alright John 16 pages and no amp yet. Time to get er done.
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It really is a pretty ridiculous thread.

I'm more or less settled on the CS-300x after playing the Harbeths with my Eico last night. If I love it but feel anything is lacking...maybe a CS-600 down the road, which I'll sell it and the Levinson for.
 
JohnVF said:
I would love that. The only reason I haven't initiated listening parties in the past is that the parking situation here is ridiculous and possibly expensive. I live right off of Michigan Ave at the river...there's street parking but its like $8 an hour or something.
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I can walk over John.
 
Tom Brennan said:
I can walk over John.
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I'd say make that walk whenever you want...but I'm rarely here unfortunately. Which is why I haven't called you to come on down. I'm lucky to get in a 1/2 hour to listen to this stuff a day.

When I get the Leben amp, everybody is invited.
 
JohnVF said:
When I get the Leben amp, everybody is invited.
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As the distance from my place is approx 8180 miles and as I'm already running a Leben pre-amp I think I'll pass up on that one. I'm sure you'll enjoy it though.
I've found them to be a very good company to deal with when so many these days just aren't.
 
JohnVF said:
I would love that. The only reason I haven't initiated listening parties in the past is that the parking situation here is ridiculous and possibly expensive. I live right off of Michigan Ave at the river...there's street parking but its like $8 an hour or something. There may be parking decks that are much cheaper nearby, I'd have to look into it.

I'd love to have some people over. I have a bunch of gear here that would be fun to rotate through. I went through three different amps last night out of my own curiosity, trying to hear what the Harbeths work best with. The EL-84 amp really was surprisingly capable.
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I've spent the past few days listening to an el84 amp (modified Magnavox 9304) and I agree.

Also agree about the parking situation!
 
If you bought the Leben would you sell the Marantz SC pre?

The Leben is a keeper, I can't imagine upgrading afterwards other than to Shindo and that's a rather slippery topic. You cannot really go wrong with Leben, IMO. Strong resale value too. Built quality is supposed to be near perfect.

I was in Chicago last week at the Palmer, next time hope to come by. :)
 
JT-3 said:
If you bought the Leben would you sell the Marantz SC pre?

The Leben is a keeper, I can't imagine upgrading afterwards other than to Shindo and that's a rather slippery topic. You cannot really go wrong with Leben, IMO. Strong resale value too. Built quality is supposed to be near perfect.

I was in Chicago last week at the Palmer, next time hope to come by. :)
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I think the Marantz SC-11 is going away no matter what happens. It's an extremely nice preamp but the clarity/transparency of the McCormack showed it up. It's also not the best match for the Levinson, and I've thought about selling it for the Leben fund or just as likely, trading it in on one of the great used preamps that pop up around town from time to time. There are nice Jeff Rowland and Sonic Frontiers pres available used in town right now.
 
IMO: get the 600, John

You well always have lingering doubts that will haunt you and will in the end make you sell the 300 and purchase the 600 -- Just the way we are
 
Frank Sol said:
You well always have lingering doubts that will haunt you and will in the end make you sell the 300 and purchase the 600 -- Just the way we are
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Well if one prefers the sound of EL84s to EL34s or 6L6s the 300 might be the better amp if it's capable of the dynamics expected given the speakers used.

Of course that might be a big if when using Harbeths and Quads; it would be easier to know one would be happy with the 300 were one's speakers highly sensitive.
 
Well, i'm not JohnVF, but if it were me, I'd have to say I'm inclined to agree with Frank Sol.
I have a house full of Spendor speakers. These and Harbeths are like cousins.
While an EL-84 is a good amp, sounds fine and works competently well, occasionally potential dynamic headroom feels compromised with EL-84s on things like Direct metal master vinyl classical pieces or high-res digital audio.
The three-way Spendors, at least, have complex crossovers that suck up a bit of power. Can't speak directly for the Harbeths though.
 
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