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

@budburma 

Thanks for posting. Glad to know you found your heaven with Plinius SA 201 and Supratek Syraham. Plinius is one those brands I never got around to audition with Tannoy, maybe someday:-) 

Consider Accuphase Integrated, especially E-650. I am running Canterbury’s with E-650, the only scenario I’m ditching E-650 once I get my hands on Accuphase E-800.

@budburma 

I am well and hope the same for you! I hear you on the cost, unfortunately Accuphase is priced unfairly in US due to excessive greed of US distributor. But boy, the pairing of Accuphase and Tannoy is unmistakable, great synergy and delicious sound all around. All the positive attributes of a SET amp sound characteristics served delicately with SS class A purity. So I agree with you, Class A is a way to go with Tannoy’s. 

The AD-50 phono board in my E-650 was more than adept in conveying Hana’s Umami Red gorgeous sound. I never felt anything lacking! In my system, the AD-50 offered much better synergy over a $2500 E.A.T. E-glo S phono preamp with external power supply. 

In your budget, keep an eye for E-480. Good luck! 

@budburma

Does your DAC have balanced output? If it does, then try a XLR IC with XLR to RCA adapters (for Leben inputs). The typical output level on balanced analog is 6.1Vrms.