[Skylab]

The CS300XS is a pretty neutral sounding amp.  It isn't the kind of amp that is going to smooth over sibilance that is on the recording.

 

[achristilaw]

The Leben is not a "Tubey" amp...it is very neutral and will show the source (and later the phone, once the source is straightened out) for what it is. If you want attenuation (at both frequency extremes) and a lush euphonic effect try a single-ended triode, that would offer the soft "glowing" roundness your looking after. That isn't to my liking as I shy away from typical triode sound....
 
 The "knock" on the EL84 pentode in audiophile circles is that it sounds solid-state (because of it's extension) and less like a typical tube (when used in ultra-linear)...I say "Yeah Baby"!!
 
ALSO:
 
It (the Leben) takes a bit (80+ hrs.) of burn in to settle down!! It's raw sounding the first few hours....

 

[ztsen]

May I know what female vocal/album are you listening?
 
Quote:

Hi,

After seeing so many good comments about Leben CS300XS, I recently bought it from a local dealer in Hong Kong. I am running in it for about 100 hours.

I like warm and lush female vocal, but I found the CS300XS' treble is quite harsh. I know most of you may not agree to my statement but the situation in my system is the female vocal sounds sibilant, very sibilant - the 'hissssssss' sound is killing me.
 
I have used a Cardas Golden Cross inter-connect but seems not improved much. My set up is

Logitech Transporter (music ripped from CDs in FLAC format) --> Cardas Golden Cross --> Leben CS300XS --> Audio Note AN-La cables --> Cairn floor-standing speakers
 
I also use Denon D5000, but with similar sibilance. I initially used stock tubes but later changed to Mullard 4004 and Philips SQ EL84 but they do not help much.

What went wrong?
 

 

[MikeLa]

I agree with Skylab and achristilw.  I haven't heard the Logitech Transporter but that would be the first place I would look.  Do you have the opportunity to swap out the Transporter with another source to try and isolate where the sibilance is coming from?

 

[godog]

Quote:

Hi,

After seeing so many good comments about Leben CS300XS, I recently bought it from a local dealer in Hong Kong. I am running in it for about 100 hours.

I like warm and lush female vocal, but I found the CS300XS' treble is quite harsh. I know most of you may not agree to my statement but the situation in my system is the female vocal sounds sibilant, very sibilant - the 'hissssssss' sound is killing me.
 
I have used a Cardas Golden Cross inter-connect but seems not improved much. My set up is

Logitech Transporter (music ripped from CDs in FLAC format) --> Cardas Golden Cross --> Leben CS300XS --> Audio Note AN-La cables --> Cairn floor-standing speakers
 
I also use Denon D5000, but with similar sibilance. I initially used stock tubes but later changed to Mullard 4004 and Philips SQ EL84 but they do not help much.

What went wrong?
 

hi, did you buy yr cs300xs at MK Tak Fat basement? may i know how much u paid for it?
my cs300xs doesn't have unbearable silbilance, much much much better than all SS amp i currently and previously owned. I have a pair of 4000-hours D5000, and no sibilance with cs300xs too.
I think you can play around with the AC outlet, powerbar, and power cord. They affect the sound very very much. OR add a lush sounding dac like berkeley alpha DAC.

 

[RedBull]

Quote:

I agree with Skylab and achristilw.  I haven't heard the Logitech Transporter but that would be the first place I would look.  Do you have the opportunity to swap out the Transporter with another source to try and isolate where the sibilance is coming from?

Very very possible

 

[dkyy]

Yes I bought it at MK. I promised the shop not to disclose the price in public but I can send you a PM.
 
If the sibilance does not come from Leben, then my next guess is it coming from the Logitech Transporter because I bought both almost at the same time. I do agree that some sibilance could have been in the recording, but my observation is the whole system sounds brighter than before in general. In the past, I used SqueezeBox 3 with CIAudio VDA-2 DAC and KICAS Caliente. The system sounds warm but the sound stage and treble extension are not as good as Leben.
 
I have just bought a used Lavry DA11 to fit between the Transporter and Leben. Will see how it goes. Do you have any recommendations on power outlet and power cord? I am currently using PS Audio Quet power centre and VDH Mainsstream power cable.
 
Quote:

hi, did you buy yr cs300xs at MK Tak Fat basement? may i know how much u paid for it?
my cs300xs doesn't have unbearable silbilance, much much much better than all SS amp i currently and previously owned. I have a pair of 4000-hours D5000, and no sibilance with cs300xs too.
I think you can play around with the AC outlet, powerbar, and power cord. They affect the sound very very much. OR add a lush sounding dac like berkeley alpha DAC.

 

[arnesto]

I use the Lavry and Leben combo. The headphone out of the Lavry sounds clear and I like it, but with some instruments, it sounds thin.
 
The Leben doesn't add any any shrill or high frequencies, but does add a little bit of decay to the sound which gives it a more natural full sound to it.
 
If you still get that high sibilant sound I would try something different than the Transporter.
 
The big bros at Head-fi will not steer your wrong. I hope this fixes your problem.

 

[Skylab]

Well...I just bought another Leben - this one a CS300, but proper USA voltage. Will be interesting to compare that to my 100 V wired CS300X...

Should have it by next weekend.

 

[arnesto]

Skylab, I know you said that you are a headphone guy, but the Leben really shines as a speaker amp and the headphone out is just a nice to have on the Leben.
 
I thought my headphones sounded good until I hooked up speakers to it. Now, I only want to use it as a speaker amp.
 
If you haven't given it a try, I just thought I would mention it.

 

[TigzStudio]

Do you have a secret source for your Leben procurement?  Or did you get it used?  Tone imports?
 
The Leben is back on my list for another rig after I get my antelope word clock to go with my Zodiac+
 
Quote:

Well...I just bought another Leben - this one a CS300, but proper USA voltage. Will be interesting to compare that to my 100 V wired CS300X...

Should have it by next weekend.

 

[dkyy]

 

 
Quote:

Yes I bought it at MK. I promised the shop not to disclose the price in public but I can send you a PM.
 
If the sibilance does not come from Leben, then my next guess is it coming from the Logitech Transporter because I bought both almost at the same time. I do agree that some sibilance could have been in the recording, but my observation is the whole system sounds brighter than before in general. In the past, I used SqueezeBox 3 with CIAudio VDA-2 DAC and KICAS Caliente. The system sounds warm but the sound stage and treble extension are not as good as Leben.
 
I have just bought a used Lavry DA11 to fit between the Transporter and Leben. Will see how it goes. Do you have any recommendations on power outlet and power cord? I am currently using PS Audio Quet power centre and VDH Mainsstream power cable.
 

Now I haven't concluded yet, but after further investigation my guess of the serious sibilance is due to a combination of factors:
 
1) The treble of the Transporter sounds harsh and forward. I bought it new only one month ago and haven't completely burn it in. So I will keep playing it non-stop for the next few days and see how it goes. The positive-feedback reviews of Transporter is in the same opinion of this: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue30/transporter.htm
2) Some of my recordings, especially those made in China, does have emphasized highs that push the sibilance further.
3) Adding a Lavry DA11 (to replace to internal DAC of Transporter) does help warm the sound up. The sibilance is now less serious than before.
4) Leben sounds more neutral than the warm-sounding KICAS/Caliente which had neutralized the sibilance of the recordings in my previous set-up.
 
I am now convinced that buying the Leben is a correct decision. But I need to deal with the Transporter for its forward and excited sound characteristics. Any advice?
 
Has anyone used Linn Majik DS before? How does it sound?
 
 

 

[Skylab]

Tigz, I got this one used on Audiogon. There was a CS300X on Ebay for basically full price. I went on Audiogon to see if it was doublet listed. It wasn't, but I happened to spot the CS300, and snapped it up. I don't see used Leben very often on Audiogon.

Arnesto, I love speakers, but my speakers are B&W Nautilus 800's, which are NOT going to pair well with the Leben. They need a bare minimum of 250 wpc, but I found even that wasn't really enough. My 600 wpc Sunfire does the trick though

So the Leben has to be used for headphones, for me.

 

[Clayton SF]

Quote:

Well...I just bought another Leben - this one a CS300, but proper USA voltage. Will be interesting to compare that to my 100 V wired CS300X...

Should have it by next weekend.

Wow. Another Leben. If I were your son or a member of your household of music machines, I'd never leave!

Congrats on the purchase of a 120v Leben.

 

[SleepyOne]

 
Quote:

Wow. Another Leben.

X2
 
Congratulation! Looking forward to see what you think re: difference between the CS300X and CS300!!