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Leben. Thinking something drastic here.

wash.and.dry said:
I thought you liked the Marantz? And what happened to the Pioneer Elite that was in the bedroom?

It cracks me up that I know you had certain equipment in different places of you apartment. Weird.
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Strange how we get to know the stories of people's systems. Like I could tell you what Chicks is running right now, and I've never met the guy and don't know his real name.

The Pioneer is acting as a preamp in the bedroom, and doing a surprisingly good job at it. The Marantz only seems to work really well when it was in the Sony system. The McCormack passive/buffered pre really changed my mind on the Marantz. Have you ever heard something that sort of moved the bar so much that it kind of made you reassess what you have? That was what happened when I got the McCormack last month. That purchase made me think a lot about what I was doing here...the simpler things seem to be winning out.
 
prisoners said:
I'm working 60-70 hrs a week in a pizza place while trying to listen to a pair of Klipsch KBS 1.1 and a Ratshack Accurian amp playing MP3s. The fact that the pizza place is mine only makes it slightly tolerable.
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I'm not really complaining, I hope it didn't seem like that, as I consider myself really lucky to have ended up with this job I have, or to have any job at all right now. Which is one reason I don't just go out and buy the Leben...none of us know where this economy is headed for better or worse and so dropping $5k on something I don't ultimately need is really something to think about...and why I'm tying it to getting rid of all the excess gear here. I've really kind of traded having a wife and kids for my 'dream' job in the city, and now I'm thinking that maybe I should find a better balance, and spend less time playing with my stereo and to get out and live more in what little spare time I have. A nice simple, beautiful, integrated amp kind of fits better with that philosophy than a Pass Preamp driving a 400wpc Levinson 432 into monster speakers that dominate my view of the skyline.

Tom Brennan said:
C'mon John, if it's just the sound there are many ways to go other than the Leben besides the Pass stuff. Sometimes, with some people, there comes the point when you know there's all kinds of stuff that sounds great (or great enough) and other things begin to appeal, such as style. Which the Leben has in spades. But Pass? Who knows what it looks like and who cares, it's generically styled "high end", high quality gear.
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That's exactly it. You can get great sound in many places. I don't see a reason why so much of the modern gear should be so generic looking. Even the Levinson is ugly...it really does look like an old PC from the 1990s. I like the look of their earlier amps much better, but I liked how this sounded. It's not a good match for the Harbeth's though. And aesthetically its not a good match for much of anything.
 
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At the risk of getting off-topic, make yourself happy first. I tried to live for someone else, constantly making decisions that I thought were for the overall good even if my friends said I was either crazy-devoted or just being a sucker. In the (recent) end of course I reached a limit as to how far I could keep bending, and she wasn't willing to bend much at all.

It may sound silly to anyone outside our hobby but having a quality system to listen to has been a huge help in getting over the absolute worst days of my life..and I'm counting the loss of a parent and growing up dirt poor in a single-parent home. The point I'm trying to make is if it makes you happy to splurge on yourself than do it. You owe no one an explanation or apology, and if you have the means do it without any guilt. OK...maybe too much information but your last post struck a nerve.
 
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prisoners said:
At the risk of getting off-topic, make yourself happy first. I tried to live for someone else, constantly making decisions that I thought were for the overall good even if my friends said I was either crazy-devoted or just being a sucker. In the (recent) end of course I reached a limit as to how far I could keep bending, and she wasn't willing to bend much at all.

It may sound silly to anyone outside our hobby but having a quality system to listen to has been a huge help in getting over the absolute worst days of my life..and I'm counting the loss of a parent and growing up dirt poor in a single-family home. The point I'm trying to make is if it makes you happy to splurge on yourself than do it. You owe no one an explanation or apology, and if you have the means do it without any guilt. OK...maybe too much information but your last post struck a nerve.
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There's no risk of going off-topic, we've had 9 pages to talk about whether or not to get this amp. The background to this, is more in my last post than the first, and in what you've brought up. The clutter in my stereo closet is a metaphor to a bunch of clutter in my life, and getting rid of it is tied to not only the Leben, but generally just cleaning house in everything, in an attempt to find a path through it all. Deep stuff for a stereo conversation, but it's possible to get weighed down by stuff, and the reasons you acquired that stuff, and that's where I'm at. I can't wait to sit down with a nice integrated amp, my simple boxy (but not boxy sounding) English speakers, and remark about how good the songwriting is instead of how good the recording is.
 
JohnVF said:
I love that the 'factory' is the designer and his three sweet, modest looking lady friends. How odd is that? I want it even more now. I wonder if they are family?

A good friend of mine is trying to talk me out of it, instead reminding me that he can get a deal on the new Pass Labs preamp (not because he would profit, he's a rep). Hmm..I don't know that it would solve my issue, but one of my issues is that I find that my Marantz Reference preamp isn't quite to my liking.

I still think the Leben's going to be the winner.
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:thmbsp:

I would definitely go for a "factory" tour if the opportunity arises! :music:
 
I really have liked the looks of that Leben since the first time I saw it (or another model maybe) in stereophile a while back. Very classy looking piece, well built and all reviews have been sublimely poitive. If I could afford one, I'd problably own it.

PS - I think the Leben, VPI, Harbeth combination would make even Hugh Hefner or Frank Sinatra jealous. :D
 
Given how small the operation is, I'll bet that they'd be open to some customization. In Japan, there is a lacquering technique called urushi. It would be interesting to find out if the wood sides are lacquered in urushi. If not, would be nice if that were an option. Urushi is a very hard and durable lacquer that looks magnificent, with a "depth" to it in visual perception. I have a couple of fountain pens with the bodies/caps made of urushi. Truly beautiful stuff.
 
marantzfan said:
PS - I think the Leben, VPI, Harbeth combination would make even Hugh Hefner or Frank Sinatra jealous. :D
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Hef liked Bogen. His original mono hi-fi setup is in a film transfer/editorial place down the street from me that I sometimes work with. The office was the original headquarters of Playboy. I took this picture of Hef's stereo, err...mono.... the last time I was there...the Leben sure wouldn't be out of place there. This gear is fully restored and working:

Hef.jpg



myu701 said:
Given how small the operation is, I'll bet that they'd be open to some customization. In Japan, there is a lacquering technique called urushi. It would be interesting to find out if the wood sides are lacquered in urushi. If not, would be nice if that were an option. Urushi is a very hard and durable lacquer that looks magnificent, with a "depth" to it in visual perception. I have a couple of fountain pens with the bodies/caps made of urushi. Truly beautiful stuff.
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At some point I need to call the importer or talk to a dealer to see what's possible, as there do seem to be assorted options that you can get, being as they're basically made to order.
 
myu701 said:
Given how small the operation is, I'll bet that they'd be open to some customization. In Japan, there is a lacquering technique called urushi. It would be interesting to find out if the wood sides are lacquered in urushi. If not, would be nice if that were an option. Urushi is a very hard and durable lacquer that looks magnificent, with a "depth" to it in visual perception. I have a couple of fountain pens with the bodies/caps made of urushi. Truly beautiful stuff.
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I've heard of that,but never seen it up close.I know Pioneer made some cd players in the early 90's with that finish.
 
Frank Sol said:
I'm getting tired of all my black & silver 'boxes' too, John. I'm for sure going to thin the herd very soon
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What do you think you'll go to? The options are limited. If you've ended up liking newer gear, you get the choice of silver boxes and black boxes. The only gear that I think looks good, was made in the '60s or bears some resemblance to it with a shared minimalist/mid century aesthetic. I think the Yamaha A-1 looks great, as something different than that...but it shares the clean look of a lot of great design.
 
The Juicy Music products look great, but talk about a limited run...I'll bet Sony destroys more products in testing in one year than the gentleman behind Juicy Music ever made.
 
prisoners said:
The Juicy Music products look great, but talk about a limited run...I'll bet Sony destroys more products in testing in one year than the gentleman behind Juicy Music ever made.
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That is really nice looking gear. I've never heard or read much about them, and now they're no more.

Tokyo Sound Company was brought to my attention in a PM. I've not heard there gear, but it at least attempts to look different. Can't say I really like the look, though...it seems kind of half-way there, and I hate any tube gear that has a window with a tube...and this is basically a whole window put on a tube amp. Word is that it sounds good, though.

http://tokyosound.co.jp/sound/products/amp/index.html

None of it is the _______ though. (Fill in the blank. Starts with L ends in N.)
 
Hey john, while not exactly what you were looking for, simplicity-wise, there is still lots of really neat-looking modern gear out there:

http://www.angelfire.com/biz/bizzyb/HIBACHI.html

I own these, and love them. They are much prettier in person than in photographs (the finish requires 11 hand-rubbed applications, and is beautiful), and the general consensus at the last get-together was that they are a steal.
 
TejasRichard said:
Hey john, while not exactly what you were looking for, simplicity-wise, there is still lots of really neat-looking modern gear out there:

http://www.angelfire.com/biz/bizzyb/HIBACHI.html

I own these, and love them. They are much prettier in person than in photographs (the finish requires 11 hand-rubbed applications, and is beautiful), and the general consensus at the last get-together was that they are a steal.
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Those are cool...I've read through that site before. Maybe something to think about for the Quads down the road? Not really the simplification that I'm looking for, but I really like the idea behind them.
 
Cadillac Kid said:
My Harbeth SHL5s come alive with some watts. Do you think the Leben will be enough for your Compact 7?
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The shop in LA that I saw the Leben CS-600 at (but didn't have time to audition) used the Compact 7s, and the guy there said of everything he had they sounded best on that. I've read elsewhere that they work well together, and even read a review of the SHL5s on the smaller CS-300x. Right now, I'm running my Compacts 7s on about the same tube wattage as the CS-600, and they're doing ok. They could use a little more but part of that is my passive preamp.
 
John, Ray, and Sam(and others,) Charlie at St. Louis Stereo has Saturday, Nov. 18th, or Saturday, Dec. 3rd available for a listening session with the Harbeth Compact 7s and the Leben 600 integrated if you are interested.
 
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