I want to swap out my Bose Lifestyle 5 Home Theater system for a Leak Stereo 20 and modern pre-amp. Does anyone know of a good web resource for buying and selling this kind of kit i.e. somewhere I can place an advert for my swap?

Are there any valve amp nutters here? I have a friend who has an amazing collection of Leaks and Quads and 3 pairs of electrostatic speakers. He demonstrated a Leak Stereo 20 with a "known bad" pair of speakers and the sound blew my Bose (or any other modern stereo I've heard) out of the water. Talk about instantly converted!

 

This place has the odd bargain every now and then.

Affordable Audio might take your kit too.

 

Dont say you havent been warned.....! Valve is the way to go.
Many months ago there was a big post concerning valve equipment.
Without going into too much!! A few years ago dure to moving into a smaller flat I had to sell a fantastic valve system.
The amp was a 20. forget the other leaks. Things to check...... Valves must be "Mullards" etc and be fully balanced.. The speaker posts are crap. The fuse should be removed( Flame suit on!!). And if any mods have been made they should be good and balanced as not to upset the Leak sound. I had mine running in Tri mode. this made a great difference. They had a pair of fully working Quad 57's on stands. The sound was so good that to this day I have never heard better.
The leak is great ,much better than the Quad 22's.

Best place to look is "Classique sounds". Peter if I recal...?? I spent ages looking for a good "Quad/leak" company ad he is the BEST IN THE UK..
Remember a few things things. They are old..most dont work.... most have been badly modded /repaired. They will not like a high input level.

Be lucky and your ears will never be the same.

 

I've got a pair of audionote conquest valve monoblocks and an audionote M1 remote valve preamp being installed later this week -(see amp servicing thread) so i will be a fully paid up valve nutter by Friday.....emphasis on the PAID mind you!!

I have friends with Audionote Ongaku amd Keg-ons: £40-50000 pounds each(!) depending on how much silver is used and the Cap specs etc. I thought the Conquests were quite expensive but they are only the top of Audionote's entry level stuff really...


edited to ask BTW anyone an analogue/vinyl nutter here?? took the plunge and upgraded myt rega3 to a michell orbe recently and am more than pleased. The shops are stocking loads of vinyl again too, all on 180 gram pressings - yummy!

Valves are so much more true and musical, generating better timbre reproduction, and the detail ion these amps is excellent.

You won't get clubland bass - but hey that's for kids at the end of the day.



[Edited by zoog - 9/23/2002 8:51:08 AM]

 

Zoog

what power supply are you using with the deck???? They are only up the road from me and every time I have visited them i come away thinking "yes,this company is great".

 

luke

it has it's own large separate power supply for the outboard dc motor, as standard. the dc motor is a relatively recent spec improvement, they used to have ac motors. dont think there is any point using a different P.S.

have a look at the michell site.

adrian

 

I have never used valve gear as in my formative years the ability to rattle the neighbour's kitchenware seemed important. i have always loved vinyl and have an old but very trusty Linn Axis/Akito/Dynavector 10x which I love. I run it through a Trichord Dino phono stage and then into Meridian 501/557 pre and power. The meridian gear is great, (if you can stand the slightly naff functionallity). I then bought a Meridian 588 cd player, and it is was the first time i had ever heard a cd player that could rival vinyl for sound quality. the most surprising thing is the how variable the quality of cds is - i find it a lot more variable than vinyl. some early (made in the '80s) cds sound crap compared to old vinyl copies of the same albums, whereas new cds sound slightly better than my record player. However, I bought the Linn about 12 years ago, for £250 second hand (that was a fortune for me then), the meridian cd player cost nearly 10 times as much...

life is still sweet...

Charlie.

 

Charlie,
the trichord dinos are excellent having used one on loan from Walrus systems when I got the orbe; I got the new mark 2 (stereo) trichord Delphini in the end for my phono stage and am really impressed.

 

Zoog -

What sort of money is an Orbe? And what cartridge are you using? At some stage (ie when I have paid for PPP for the motor) I would like to buy another turntable. I have considered an LP12 cos I have been so well served by my current Linn, but would certainly consider a michell deck. Do you think the orbe is the way to go?

Cheers,

Charlie.

 

Adrian
the reason I asked is ,during a visit they where playing with a new Motor/supply and I was never sure if t went into production.

 

Much prefer Vinyl over the silver disc any day. Upgraded from Goldring Lenco GL75 (remember those) many years ago to Linn LP12/grace/supex, now on second LP12 setup - LP12/Lingo/Naim Aro/Audio Technica OC9 - playback thru Naim Amps and speakers.
Use a Meridian 206 for the silver discs.

 

Zoog, yes I prefer vinyl, and would love a valve amp myself, can't justify the expense at mo tho.
Thing is I'm lazy, and vinyl needs more time and better care than the cds, so the deck is upstairs collecting dust. You never seem to get the bargains either.
Used to have a Musical Fidelity amp and player as it produced a valve like sound relatively cheaply
Love vinyl as you can fit more artwork on the sleeves as well
Flip, I sound like a boy !!

 

charlie the orbe spider edition is appx £2000 minus arm and cartridge. I got the origin live silver taper arm and ortofon rohman cartridge, but thats adding another £2k on top!

I auditioned lp12's at Harrods and Billy Vees in Lee and was very dissappointed to be honest. didn't even match up to my old rega3 on a good day. if it had been at one place I d given it benefit of doubt and said maybe it was poorly set up, but both were poor. its impossible to tell though really, amplification may have confounded the issue. I always dreamt of Lp12's when I was younger but couldn't afford them, they have a place in history.

The orbe is quite superb it really is,the sound is mazingly clean and detailed with great staging and seems to me to combine the traditional good points of vinyl with the separation and silence of CDs; and you wont find many that dissent from that view. Others to consider though might be Nottingham analogue range and origin live have some new decks out but I dont know what they sound like.

The Michell Gyrodec is a good value compromise option and can be upgraded to near-orbe status if you wish.

Luke:
the new DC motor is a marked sonic improvement so i understand and was "forced " on Michell due to supply of old ac units stopping.



[Edited by zoog - 9/24/2002 7:51:34 AM]

 

Cheers Zoog - sounds like the orbe definitely deserves an audition. time to have a look in the piggy bank...

Charlie.