Leben CS600 Owners - Help

Hgim,

I got my CS600 a month ago and have the same hum sound as you described. Thought it was defective and took it to the dealer. His demo unit also have the same hum sound. He told me that it was normal. On mine, I can only hear it when standing or sitting next to it when music is not playing.
As for speakers, I'm also thinking of getting the M30.1. Right now, my CS600 is hooked up to a pair SF Auditors. The combination sound very nice but I always hear or read about the Leben + Harbeth combination. In a few weeks, I'm going to demo the M30.1 to see if they are any better than the SF Auditors.

Glad it worked out.
I love the CS600. I had transformer hum with a previous amp and it was a deal breaker for me.
I've been thinking about trying the Harbeth 30.1.
Heard them with the Red Wine audio amp at the NY show and the sound was beautiful.
Still using the focal electra's and they sound great with the Leben too.
Listening as I write this. Tomasz Stanko Quartet, Matka Joanna on ECM.... warm and crisp at the same time.

Thank you all for the kind words and further input.

Xmuavah, I suggest that you try to place CS600 on a sturdy platform, either directly on the floor or an amp stand. I suspect that the hum will be reduced.

Oddmorning, I'm a big fan of ECM label. The M30.1/CS600 combo made some obscure (and somewhat uninteresting) ECM music come alive by rendering the live studio in front of me.

Donjr, please don't go to that route (IMHO). I heard good words about Rogue Cronus Magnum, which I'm sure is a fine product, but there's so much you can expect for the budget. I'm an expat and in my US home I have Audible Illusions M3A -> CJ MV-60 -> Proac 2.5. The system is comparable to my new system in retail price (at the time), but I never got this kind of sound. I also seriously thought about Hegel H300 as a second amp in case I need more bass and power, but I completely changed my mind now. I'm still interested in Hegel H25 DAC though.

Hgim,
Thanks for the suggestion on the hum noise. What tubes are you using in your CS600 and why? Have you try any other speakers before buying the M30.1? Thank you in advance.

Well, I only had it for a week, and haven't yet opened the top plate, so it's been the stock 6L6GC. I will enjoy the current setting for a while and will experiment EL34 (which I look forward to very much) after I get some clear ideas of the current sound.

I bought the speakers first so I don't have much experience with other speakers with CS600. The comparison of CS300XS/CS600 was done with Lawrence Audio Violin, driven by AMR DP-777. The results were consistent with what I have now.

My purchase of M30.1 was based on the reviews of course and also on my fond memory with P3-ES2 that I had for a while. Although it lacked the bass and scale compared to Proac 2.5, the midrange was fabulous.

So what are the improvements of the current system compared to my other Proac-based system? The key areas are:

(a) Smoother midrange/highs with reduced grain around the voice/instruments. More air.
(b) Deep deep sound stage, but this may be in part attributed to the fact that I can place the speakers well into the room (5 ft from the back wall) which was not possible in my US home living room.
(c) More "authoritative" bass. I wouldn't call it tighter, but weighty yet well defined. It's hard to describe, but it sounds more realistic without feeling muddy. I've been thinking about this matter lately. Although we all seek for "tight" bass, when you go to the jazz concert the bass sound is actually not that tight.

In my 20+ years of this hobby, the most memorable upgrade was changing Adcom GFP-555 to Melos SHA-Gold. I had never expected that a preamp alone could make such a difference. The Leben CS600 upgrade will now be put on near top of my list. Saying this in comparison with a system that is more than decent in any audiophile standards should be quite a testament. I realize I am sounding like a salesperson, but I am in no way affiliated with Leben or any companies mentioned. Just a music lover enjoying good sound.