[Lan647]

I was looking into some higher end amps and would like to read a comparison between the two above. Let the WA22's balanced option face the integrated speaker section of the Leben. I'm using the Sennheiser HD 800...

 

[t-h-e-p-i-m-p]

leben with 5db bass boost <3 ^^

 

[Lan647]

No (serious) answers yet? Surprised...

 

[Skylab]

I'm not sure you will see a lot of people with both of these amps.  I have the Leben and the WA2, but the WA2 is very different from the WA22. 

 

[Lan647]

Well thanks for answer anyway, though the thread was dead
 

 

[Chefguru]

I've heard both and thought the leben was better, more fun, had more slam etc... but considering the price difference I'd prob vote to go wa22

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

I'm not sure you will see a lot of people with both of these amps.  I have the Leben and the WA2, but the WA2 is very different from the WA22. 

+1 - what are we talking about here, over 5k worth of large tube amps, just to be able to compare the WA22 with the Leben ? If I had that kind of money, I'd be typing this from a penthouse

 

[danne]

Also in the run for any of these two amps now, the price diffrence is none from Sweden, as I can pick up the leben from my local dealer (though its only the CS300) but the WA22 is about the same when adding upp tull + taxes (but when adding the balanced cable for the phones it's turns out as the more expensive option).
Guessing the Leben will be my best option, hard when you dont have the chance to hear both and compare them your self, but atleast I can compare the Leben to the Sonett at my local dealer to see if it justifies the higher price.

 

[Lan647]

So the Leben has the upper hand even vs a balanced wa22 system? 

 

[shabta]

I can't say for sure what is better. But having heard the HD800 with many of the finest amps I still like the leben better plus I can run speakers off the Leben. Which I do.

 

[Lan647]

Quote:

I can't say for sure what is better. But having heard the HD800 with many of the finest amps I still like the leben better plus I can run speakers off the Leben. Which I do.

Can't you tell me more about the Leben? Considering it's only single ended, how does HD 800 and this amp compare to a fully balanced config? Do you sometimes feel something is missing soundwise in your setup? 

 

[shabta]

I don't really buy into the whole go balanced hype. But I can say I didn't think the balanced audio gd pheonix hd 800 sounded as good as my Leben HD 800. I thought the  pheonix was a bit darker and the highs we a bit more sibilant (strangely). At the end of the day I don't think you should be thinking balanced vs. unbalanced as much as does setup x sound better than setup y. For example, at a recent meet in the bay area the only thing i heard that sounded noticably better than my setup was a Stax Omega / Blue hawaii rig.
 
What's missing from my rig? Well you never get a completely speaker like presentation, even with crossfeed, so that always sounds a bit unatural. But read inner space's thread on the Awful Truth the leben vs. the pinnacle. It does a really good job of describing the HD800 sound with the leben and how close it comes to being on par with a 10,000 dollar headphone amp.

 

[Lan647]

I've read that. Over and over again. hehe

So you think the Leben is worth the cash?

 

[shabta]

That's always a tricky question because everyone knows that  climbing the tower to audiophile nirvana involves a non linear layout of cash. So if you look from the perspective of my 680 euro Lehmann BCL amp, yeah the 2800 euro  leben is definitely immediately noticably better. But what is cool is the lehmann fairs pretty well against 4 times the price leben. And the leben does even better when you compare it to the pinnacle apparently.
 
Yes I think think the leben is worth it. But remember, I drank the audiophiliic koolade.

 

[Lan647]

hehe thanks for answers.