The idea of a good-quality integrated amplifier—a power amp and preamp put together in a box of reasonable size—has never ceased to appeal to me. I owned three good integrated amps before I ever bothered to buy a stereo receiver (itself purchased before countless…
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In a perfect world, I would own the following: one good turntable (footnote 1), one good tonearm, one good pickup head, one good step-up transformer, one good integrated amplifier, and two good loudspeakers. And some decent cables. That's all, except maybe a home and a dog and some records and some books and one good guitar.
Listening
From the start, the Leben CS300 distinguished itself as a punchy and realistically textured amp with an especially deep, tight bottom end. Most stereo recordings sounded pleasantly large through the Leben, with instruments and voices maintaining good physical presence. The Leben was tonally well balanced overall, and although it had the sort of warmth and humanness I associate with tube amplification in general, it was free from egregious timbral colorations.
From the start, the Leben CS300 distinguished itself as a punchy and realistically textured amp with an especially deep, tight bottom end. Most stereo recordings sounded pleasantly large through the Leben, with instruments and voices maintaining good physical presence. The Leben was tonally well balanced overall, and although it had the sort of warmth and humanness I associate with tube amplification in general, it was free from egregious timbral colorations.
Rachmaninoff's Vocalise, Op.34, from Analogue Productions' recent 45rpm remastering of the recording by Donald…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-channel tubed integrated amplifier. Tube complement: four EL84/6BQ5 (Sovtek), two 5751 (GE). Line inputs: 5 plus tape loop. Input sensitivity: 600mV. Output power: 12Wpc into 4, 6, or 8 ohms (7.8dBW, 9.3dBW, 10.8dBW, respectively). Frequency response: 15Hz–100kHz, –2dB. Total harmonic distortion: 0.7% at 10Wpc.
Dimensions: 14" (360mm) W by 5.5" (140mm) H by 10.5" (270mm) D. Weight: 22 lbs (10kg).
Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed: 106050.
Price: $3395. Approximate number of dealers: 11.
Manufacturer: Leben Hi-Fi Stereo Company, 3-22…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Garrard 301, Thorens TD 124 turntables; EMT 997, Schick tonearms; Ortofon SPU, EMT OFD 25 & OFD 65 pickup heads.
Digital Sources: Wavelength Proton USB D/A converter; Apple iMac G5 computer running Apple iTunes V.10.2.2, Decibel V.1.0.2 playback software; Sony SCD-777ES SACD/CD player; Sony PlayStation 1 (as CD player).
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 Standard (SPU version), Silvercore One-to-Ten step-up transformers; Shindo Masseto preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: Shindo Corton-Charlemagne monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Audio…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
To measure the Leben, I used Stereophile's loaner Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 "As We See It").
I assessed the Leben CS300 integrated amplifier's performance from its 4 and 8 ohm output transformer taps; unless specifically addressed, the behavior from the 6 ohm tap can be taken as being between those two extremes. The maximum voltage gain into 8 ohms was modest for an integrated amplifier, at 27.1dB (8 ohm tap), 27.3dB (6 ohm tap), and 27.6dB (4 ohm tap). All inputs preserved absolute polarity, and the input…
Photo: Tio Denny.
Last Friday night, my old band, the Multi-Purpose Solution, played a show at Maxwell’s in Hoboken. We hadn’t performed since 2006, and, because we had only managed to get together for three full rehearsals prior to the show, each member of the band felt a certain amount of anxiety. But when we saw the room quickly fill with fans, family, and friends, we knew nothing could go wrong.
Still, I don’t think anyone expected the show to be as wonderful as it was. We played well enough—we were fast, loud, and relatively tight—but it was really the crowd…
On Tuesday, November 22, at 6pm, Stereo Exchange (627 Broadway, Manhattan) will host a demonstration of Wisdom Audio’s Reference LS4 planar magnetic line-source loudspeaker system, STS subwoofers, and SC-1 system controller.
A second event will be held at Sound Components (1536 South Dixie Highway) in Coral Gables, Florida, on Thursday, December 8, also at 6pm.
Additional demonstrations will be held across the country. Visit Wisdom Audio’s Events page for more info.
In the early 1980s, when CDs began trickling out of the few existing pressing plants, they were such rare and exotic objects that Aaron's Records, on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, kept them secured under lock and key in a tall glass cabinet. A customer forsaking vinyl would enter the store and, with great fanfare, announce the decision by dropping a load of LPs on the front counter with a disgusted thud. Then, in a ceremony resembling a rabbi removing the sacred scrolls of the Torah from the ark, the customer would approach the glass cabinet. An employee would unlock and swing open the doors…
The kick drum and bass line in Brian Wilson's Live at the Roxy is cavernously deep but can sound bloated. Through the 650D it seemed to be depth-charge deep—unusually so—and rock solid: deeper, more solid, and better focused than I'm accustomed to hearing it.
Working through my mostly 16-bit/44.1kHz playlist, I was struck by the 650D's consistent overall sound: unusually transparent, delicately drawn, and ethereal, with an almost complete absence of digital glare and hardness. Yet the 650D accomplished this without noticeably softening instrumental attacks or smothering natural transient…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: CD player and D/A converter. Digital inputs: AES/EBU (XLR), S/PDIF (RCA), S/PDIF (TosLink), USB Type B. Digital outputs: S/PDIF, AES/EBU. Analog outputs: 1 pair XLR balanced, 1 pair RCA single-ended. Sample rates supported: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.2, 192kHz (AES/EBU and S/PDIF); 32, 44.1, 48kHz. USB. USB bit depth: 16. Frequency responses: audible, 20Hz–20kHz, +0/–0.1dB (CD); full range, 2Hz–100kHz, +0/–3dB (with external digital source). Total harmonic distortion at 1kHz, 0dBFS (A-weighted): 0.001%. Intermodulation distortion: <0.001%. Dynamic…