I ordered a Leben CS-300xs from Pricejapan. The site claims the limited edition version with the Sovtek EL84 has been discontinued. Does anyone know what tubes it ships with now? Did it go back to the Mullards or should I just be surprised
Yeah, pretty sure you'll be getting Sovteks. And I'd replace those if I were you. Even some Sylvania, RCA, or GE tubes will sound better. I'm using Sylvania black-plate 6BQ5's and Hytron 5751's in my CS300X - and loving every minute of it! Congrats on your purchase - the Leben is absolutely terrific.
Thanks guys! I kind of figured it would have Sovteks, $60 a quad versus $400 for NOS Mullards. The pricejapan description is very confusing and a email from Kaneda at pricejapan did not clarify:
[size=x-small]Sorry to say that we do not know the internal details of CS300XS, and that we do not know what is different from 'limited version'(already discontinued) and current 'normal version'.[/size]
I thought the "S" at the end denoted Sovtek but why would a current production tube be a "limited version"? Hopefully the S now stand for black plate Sylvanias
Thanks guys! I kind of figured it would have Sovteks, $60 a quad versus $400 for NOS Mullards. The pricejapan description is very confusing and a email from Kaneda at pricejapan did not clarify:
[size=x-small]Sorry to say that we do not know the internal details of CS300XS, and that we do not know what is different from 'limited version'(already discontinued) and current 'normal version'.[/size]
I thought the "S" at the end denoted Sovtek but why would a current production tube be a "limited version"? Hopefully the S now stand for black plate Sylvanias
It will be interesting to know what you do get. Some Leben amps did come with NOS tubes that were not the expensive Mullards. I bought mine used, with no tubes included at all, which was a-ok with me, since I have lots of tubes
The Leben arrived safely today via DHL. . Few photos:
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It has Sovtek EL84s but a Quad of Sylvania Black plate 6bq5/EL84 in route. Build quality is quite impressive and it has understated good looks. Wife approves but I think because she dislikes the Woo WA2 look (reminds her of Dr Frankenstein's lab)
I did a brief listen to make sure it made the trip intact. Sounds a little brash at top end but again this was just a cursory listen with Sovteks.
Beautiful pics. Don't you love those beautiful custom transformers? If you want to know why the Leben sounds so good, those trafo's are a major, major reason.
The one I am using isn't the cheapo that pricejapan sells. It's a pretty beefy step-down, and all it's doing is stepping the voltage down from 120V to 100V - hardly a difficult talk. And running a 100V device from 120V directly is very likely to result in problems down the road.
I don't believe so. A step down transformer of this type is similar to isolation transformers like Equi=Tech used by audiophiles for power conditioning. If anything it would increase the longevity of the product by filtering out junk coming from the power lines
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