Tannoy Everyone?! with Leben CS600 or Pass XA25/30.5?

Ok, confession time. I don't really miss the Leben! It's a beautiful thing, lovely to behold and I have a deep appreciation for it. In the end, though, I think I'm not a tube amp enthusiast - a tube preamp with ss amp is my wheelhouse. So, there it is - truth will set me free! Or, as George Clinton said back in the day in the classic Good Thoughts, Bad Thoughts (funk philosophy 400 level listening): Free your mind and your ass will follow. Play on, children!

Well, you guys are heaping onto my seller's remorse! I sold it to a very good home and we're both happy with it. The Leben is a beautiful piece and I may regret it down the line, but am excited for new possibilities. Maybe an Accuphase integrated!

@sandthemall I hear you. My friend has the Stirling with an EVO 200 (44wpc/UL only) and it sounds very nice. Can you run the 400 in triode effectively?

@pani That is right on point for me! Thank you so much for all that clarity and clarification!! The Rogue may be the ticket. I'm also looking seriously at the XA25, but the 'hyperdynamics' is exactly my concern - I was/am thinking/imagining some tube integrated in front of that might attenuate that a bit.

The other possibility for me is an Accuphase E480, but it's overpriced and class A/B. The further simplifying phono module is inviting, though. (If only there was a way to easily internally modify a 230V version to 120V).

@richdirector Maybe the Arden/s 93dB sensitivity/20wpc minimum reco vs. 91dB/30wpc holds the answer there. The Leben is 32wpc class a/b while the Luxman in class a has much more current. I don't have any experience with class a power beyond the first few watts in  Plinius integrated and an SA201 I had years back - hardly relevant!....I can only call 'em as I hear 'em. 

There seems to be some evidence around that 25wpc in Class A would do the trick with the Stirlings, too.

Ok, I have settled in and see two options, both keeping in mind that if a pair of Dynaudio Confidence 3's show up, I want to be able to accommodate them. In the meantime, I'm loving the Tannoy sound and the Stirlings are staying for some time.

1. Supratek Cortese (I've wanted one for 15+ years)

+ amplifier TBD 

Pass XA25 and Rogue Stereo 100 are both contenders (I know, I know...it's tubes), but I feel like they're sort of temporizing.  

- a Gamut D200i might be the things down the line if/when Dynaudios appear.

2. Accuphase E480 w/phono card.

I may be discounting the PL and maybe I shouldn't, but it also feels like a temporary solution.

@pdreher I feel you. I used a Cary 306/200 for many years - the BurrBrowns were hard to beat! A good friend uses the same DAC and loves it too. The 3V may have been all I needed, but I'm skeptical. Bass and dynamics loss, congestion/breakdown with "busy" passages - particularly around the top edge of female  vocals and no room to move after 1100 on your dial - HEY don't touch that dial! Commercial free zone. JK. Anyway, I'm excited to find something new and reengage with happy, happy listening. It's a big drag with nothing to power the Stirlings...even for a day!

From what I've read, the XA25 is both underrated and that class A has enough more current to be plenty of power...I think. The 30's push a little harder even, I think. I'm not sure and hope some with direct experience can speak to that.

I'm surprised with the Leben, too. It's a wonderful piece of gear that I hate to see go and I'm definitely having some seller's remorse. It may be a mismatch with the DAC, but I think the 2V (not mV!) output is pretty standard. I'd have to find a DAC with a higher output or sell the Tannoy and neither seemed too viable....

I've looked at the Audio Mirror Tubadour SE, but the output is the same. Lampizator has some models with a 6V high output switch. 

In the end, starting with the speakers and finding the right amp makes the most sense. Maybe there's a higher output DAC that would make good music with the Leben/Tannoy but in the meantime, I'm hoping a Pass Labs amp with a Supratek pre will make some beautiful music.

From looking around, the 30.5 seems a little rounder than the .8 with the 25 being the warmest of the three. Hopefully, someone's tried one or more of them with some tannoy Stirlings or Turnberrys (Turnberries?) and can weigh in.

@cd318 that's it! I'd be curious if you (or anyone else) might have experienced their DAC not driving their Leben CS600...

DONE!

@russ69 I have the same thought - I'm super curious if anyone else has had a similar experience, but I also know that the Tannoy can be more power hungry than their specs might suggest.

ALL of that said, maybe I should have given the Tannoy more that 150-200 hours? They sure do take their time.... 

@richdirector Forgot the other piece: The 590 is on my radar - and I think you're right! The 507or 9 would likely have the same, but there seems to be some magic to class A and Tannoy. Accuphase reviews as more my sonic palate, but the well known overpricing on these shores is a pretty offpissing gouge and hard to support.

Thanks for your input and insight!

@lalitk Hello! How are you? Accuphase is on my radar, but the dizzying array of models....well, is dizzying! Your Canterbury's are easier to drive, but I think Class A is the way to go - hence my Pass Labs interest. Any other used models more in the 5.5-7K(7 is a stretch) range you'd suggest? How are their onboard phono pres?

@mesch Close to the same. 15X18 ish. Great to hear about the Pass. The Line Magnetic is a bit of a mystery to me. I'm getting about 28/30wpc with the Leben. It's fine with my phono setup (EAR834P/Thorens/Soundsmith Carmen), but runs out of gas with my digital (AMR DP777SE)....

@sandthemall @audioguy85  My buddy with the PL/Stirlings runs a Linn Sondek, too, with a modded EAR834P which all adds up to sweet tunes. He put a BMI Oceanic Statement pc on his PL and said "I doubled my fidelity." It was definitely an impressive upgrade to his system....

Hi there. Ahh, it’s been a while. Thanks for driving in! I actually ended up going with a Plinius SA 201 with a Supratek Syrah. An absolutely glorious combo!

The Alnico and Pepperpot may be the way to go with Tannoys, but the size of both the speakers and the price make them a no go for me, too, @audioguy85 . That said, the Stirlings are strutting their stuff after an extensive and painful break-in. The metal tweeters can still rule the high end roost crying out for too much attention from time to time, but those times are fewer and further between as time goes on. 

@waltersalas The Plinius SA201 was also part of my favorite past system with pretty much any preamp - Ayre K1xp, Cary 98P, AES DJH AE3, Klyne 7lx4.0p and Dynaudio Confindence 3's. I love the Plinius sound (and what a match with Dynaudio!!) - big, deep, rich, detailed, dynamic with subtleties revealed, just warm enough with velvet glove/iron fist control and plenty of power to lope along with ease. The Pass XA25 lasted less than a week here feeling dark, wooly, lacking in dynamics and generally boring - at least in this system. Happily, they're popular, seem to work well elsewhere and it was a quick and easy sale.

The Syrah is wonderfully rich and engaging even if it's a little quirky with a hum to start that fades relatively quickly, gain that's hard to match (but has easy on the fly adjustments),  a high pass switch that you better remember to turn off your amp before you switch to engage it(!), and tubes that are sort of a pain in the ass to source. BUT in the end, worth every bit of it. @jslateiv really got it in beautiful sounding condition, updating old cap caps, connections, etc.

With all that in mind, what has really brought it home are the Dynamic Design cables - especially the TBK Nebula IC's and SC's . Such presence, nuance, detail, imaging, but the word that most appears in my thoughts is "clean" but that's hardly complete - thoughts aren't expressed in the right language somehow. The absence of things is as integral to their prowess as what's proffered. No distraction of distortion, or even a hint of a peep of sound in-between images is closer and with the most beautifully wrought staging and dense, articulate, delineated, yet rounded images. They reall are wonderful and for the first time in decades of this hobby, I have a full loom of one company and couldn't be more satisfied and overjoyed eveh!

A decription of what I experience rather than hear gets much closer to what I want to convey. Dynamic Design is so captivatingly natural sounding. Their nuance is a deceptive part of their invitation, especially these TBK nebulae (the Heritage AE15 and Titania, too, though)  - an invitation to turn away from studying and just delight in the journey.

I'm finally (and once again) transported to a fully involved purely musical state without noticing or caring about any deficit - listening to the music and not the equipment (finally, reprise). I really haven't listened for detail, or been driven to, in most of my reference tracks because I'm so swept away by the PRaT and presence. A gentle giant.

Anyway, for me, the most important aspect to achieve has been 'musicality', whatever that ineffable quality is for each listener, and I've always said I'll trade detail and (over)articulation for that any time. And these DD help provide exactly that experience in spades.

As a card carrying member of this club and it's dis-ease, that feeling is fleeting and now I noticed an odd vertical collapse of my soundstage but 40% or so - it's happened before and a tube going wonky has generally been the culprit, so the search is on! My AMR is on deck and I need a spare set of 6SN7's to switch out on the Syrah...

But I digress....