The Leben CS300XS Thread - Page 73

Thanks to skylab, the question answered As for what tubes, I find the NOS Sylvania triple mica 5751 and Sylvania 6BQ5 suit my taste very well.

 

Did some more tweaking, put on some mills non-inductive resistors and reissue Genalex gold lion 12AX7/6BQ5 precision matched sets. The sound changes flavor. Not necessarily better, but the sound become a touch more energetic, younger, if you like, and a bit less mellow.

 

 

 

Edited by Jian - 2/17/12 at 6:51am

Hi Jian, Is it easy to change a 220V to 110-120 v on Leben?  Other than the tubes comes with the amp, are there any other difference between CS-300 and CS-300X.  Some also described noise issues even with HD800, how is your experience?  Thanks.

Hi Jian, I read your previous posts about how to deal with noise floor.  Voltage is the only thing that prevents me from getting one.

With 300x, I think you get 5W more power, and some premium parts that 300 does not have. And it would be very hard to convert a 220v unit to 110v, I think (not sure), because you need to change all the transformers. I guess the easer solution would be to get a power conditioner to cook up the voltage. 

Using a voltage converter is not a big deal.  I use one for sme amplifier I have bought from Japan.  The difference between the premium parts or not is not something that can be fixed.  If I went for a leben, a CS300X would be the one.  How does the leben compare with luxman SQ-N100?  From information here, I sense the luxman is the darker sounding one.  That may make them a good pairing with HD800 and HE6. 

FWIW, Leben has said that for headphone use the CS-300 and CS-300XS should not be any different. When I compared the two side by side, I heard only minor differences, which could easily be attributed to the different tube sets in each. I elected to keep the CS-300. I've never regretted that.

Skylab,  How do you compare Leben and WA22 for driving HD800? 

I preferred the WA22. Probably the ONLY headphone where I did prefer it...I was a bit disappointed with the WA22, overall, but it was VERY synergistic with the HD-800 I thought.

I was about to sell my HD800 until I tried the 596 with adapter as the rectifier (introduced to me by Golfnutz).  The combination of TS7236/RCA or TS 6F8G/596 is the best to my ears for HD800 on WA22.  Now back to Leben, I got quite a few Amperex 6085(E80CC, PQ), do you think I can use them in CS300 to substitute 5751/12AX7?  I also have some IEC/Mullard EL84 (60's vintage, marked as made in GR Britain), are those as good as the Mullard EL34?  I also have one pair of RCA red command 5751, I am wondering if you have tried the RCAs.      

I would definitely not use the 6085 in the Leben.  They might draw too much heater current for the Transformer.

 

mullard EL84's (original UK ones) are VERY highly regarded.

Sky, I asked Leben about the 6085 tubes.  The following is the answer from Mr. Yosshi Hontani.  

 

6085 is not perfectly compatible to 12AX7, as this tube is a similar
tube to 12AU7.

6060 is compatible to 12AX7/5751 perfectly.

6085 does not cause a damage in CS300, however, input sensitivity
of CS300 will decrease by using 6085 and you need to increase the
volume level more than 12AX7.

 

From my reading the 6085 has a higher gain than 12AU7 (also draws more current).  It is generally advised not to treat it as a drop in replacement for 12AX7 or 12AU7, always check with the amp designer and manufacturer. 

 

I am expecting to receive a CS300 in the near future.  I have no idea how the 6085 tubes will sound.  Hopefully, the lower sensitivity will work well with headphones and bring lower level of hiss and hum for certain phones.  I consulted quite a few here before my decision to buy, thanks for your advise and for sharing your impressions and views.

Interesting answer from Leben, thanks for posting it.  However, he is actually wrong about one thing. The 6060 is a 12AT7, not a 12AX7.  The 6057, 6681, and 7025 are all 12AX7 equivalents.  

 

Interesting to note that the CS-300 can use a 12AU7 (and I suspect a 12AT7) without concern, as that could open up some interesting tube rolling possibilities. Still, I am so pleased with the 5751 in the Leben (the 5751 has slightly less gain than a 12AX7) that I doubt I will try it ;)

 

 

Just received my Leben CS300 today from tubenews.  Only had a short listen to both HD800 and HE6, and the latter from the speaker tap, stock tubes only.  I enjoyed both from the Leben, which is really good news to me.  From the speaker tap, the HE6 (with APS V3) is a truly outstanding phone, definitely at the same level as the HD800 (with a balanced DHC complement cable).  With HD800, the soundstage is better (deeper) from Leben than from WA22.  The tone is different, a little bit more forward than the Woo,  but I found it overall a very, very enjoyable listen.  I am very impressed so far and am happy that I get the Leben.  Of course, I am wondering about the impact of tube rolling now    

congrads, let the fun started!