[toschek]

I inquired on pricejapan on these, apparently they've been discontinued.   They now have a CS-300F model, has anyone heard of it yet?  Supposedly released on 2/13/13 & uses 4x GE JAN 6197 and 2x 17EW8.  I haven't got any experience with these two tubes, any opinions?   The tubes seem like very low cost items with NOS going for $6 - $30 each from limited research.   One of the items I came across said that the 6197 was a computer tube and isn't frequently used in amp designs.

Edit:  Some more info, in French (sorry) http://www.nc-audio.com/leben300f.htm

Whew, well I freaked obviously and checked with Tone Audio and they are still making the CS-300XS, they have just dropped the CS-300 for this new one. Apparently the new one is as expensive as a US import 300SX so I don't even want to bother with it.

Obscure tubes might be good, a whole new realm of possibilities and perhaps discovering new "Grails" among them. (Someone else go first though.)

 

[MorbidToaster]

A turntable with a tubed phono stage.
 
Quote:

Hi fellow leben lovers just wonder what was the most synergistic & musical front end have you used with the Leben ?

Interested to hear your responses wether with headphones or speakers,

Thanks

Tim

 

[toschek]

Heh I think he meant what are the best outputs, not inputs with the Leben.

 

[MorbidToaster]

Woops.
 
HD800 for headphones, Harbeths for speakers.
 
Quote:

Heh I think he meant what are the best outputs, not inputs with the Leben.

 

[keph]

Quote:

Woops.
 
HD800 for headphones, Harbeths for speakers.
 

 
Add a LCD series there..Btw I just changed the headphone out resistors to a 270ohm 3w from a 1.3Kohm 3w and now my CS300XS does not clips and has more power playing through the Headphone out..btw MT since your one is the latest in production we know here do you mind opening the back case and take a picture of the components inside? Since mine was build in the end of 2010 mine came in with 2 nichicon capacitor instead of the blue elna's. Mr, Yoshi Hontani said to me that at that time the elna's were out of stock.
 
Another mod i will be doing soon is changing the coupling capacitor to a Russian NOS K40Y-9 series.They are cheap and being praised by many people. When money have been save i'll go for the V-CAP'S CuTF. Fingers crossed.

 

[MorbidToaster]

I really didn't like the LCD series with the Leben at all. I thought it was floppy and underpowered. Your mod may have changed something but man is it bad stock.
 
Quote:

 
Add a LCD series there..Btw I just changed the headphone out resistors to a 270ohm 3w from a 1.3Kohm 3w and now my CS300XS does not clips and has more power playing through the Headphone out..btw MT since your one is the latest in production we know here do you mind opening the back case and take a picture of the components inside? Since mine was build in the end of 2010 mine came in with 2 nichicon capacitor instead of the blue elna's. Mr, Yoshi Hontani said to me that at that time the elna's were out of stock.
 
Another mod i will be doing soon is changing the coupling capacitor to a Russian NOS K40Y-9 series.They are cheap and being praised by many people. When money have been save i'll go for the V-CAP'S CuTF. Fingers crossed.

 

[keph]

Quote:

I really didn't like the LCD series with the Leben at all. I thought it was floppy and underpowered. Your mod may have changed something but man is it bad stock.
 

 
Ahhh Your unit must be the one with either 1.4Kohm or 1.3Kohm headphone out resistor. Try listening to some older CS300XS with the 270ohm resistor, you will probably change your opinion. It's actually not a mod though the older CS300 series all have the 270ohm resistor in it, but a light hummm can be heard when using high impedance headphones.
 

 
ps.any chance of taking a pic of the CS300XS bottom?

 

[MorbidToaster]

Not right now. It's fine and I don't want to fiddle atm.
 
Sometime though, sure.
 
Quote:

 
Ahhh Your unit must be the one with either 1.4Kohm or 1.3Kohm headphone out resistor. Try listening to some older CS300XS with the 270ohm resistor, you will probably change your opinion. It's actually not a mod though the older CS300 series all have the 270ohm resistor in it, but a light hummm can be heard when using high impedance headphones.
 

 
ps.any chance of taking a pic of the CS300XS bottom?

 

[dminches]

I really didn't like the LCD series with the Leben at all. I thought it was floppy and underpowered. Your mod may have changed something but man is it bad stock.

I find the Leben/LCD-3 combination to to the best I have ever heard. To me, they are a perfect match.

 

[shabta]

x2 on leben with the HD800. It cured me of my stax 02 lust. 

 

[Skylab]

Yup, seems the older CS-300 variants, which most owners think are great with the Audeze, had more power on tap than the newer ones due to that resistor change.  I love my CS-300 with Audeze, but its several years old.

 

[dminches]

Why did they make that change? Was it to accommodate higher impedance cans?

 

[MorbidToaster]

We should try and nail down a pattern for which model has which headphone out.
 
i thought the LCD 2 and 3 were atrociously bad on mine. Underpowered distorted mess.
Quote:

I find the Leben/LCD-3 combination to to the best I have ever heard. To me, they are a perfect match.

 

[keph]

Quote:

Why did they make that change? Was it to accommodate higher impedance cans?

 
Yeap...It's been change so that it does not humm with high Impedance headphones...

 

[dminches]

They should have put a switch in instead.