Amp For Falcon Ls3/5a's

There’s a very nice synergy that takes place between those BBC monitors and EL84 based amplifiers such as the

Leben CS300XS


Luxman SQ-N150


Acoustic Masterpiece AM201


EAR V12


or Manley Stingray II

 

Love the Leben its on my to do list 1 of these days...i thinks its best lookin kit i've ever laid eyes on....

 

I heard one a few years ago with my own ProAc Response D2’s and a very nice combination it was.

 

That Leben is a great amp. Heard it driving DeVore O/93's. Endgame system for any sensible music lover.

 

But its out of production. What models are good?

 

Agree with a Class A Sugden

 

You seem to be very uncertain what amp to choose, on that you base your wish on a review in a magazine written by another person.

What you need in my opinion is to listen for yourself before giving your hard earned away.

Make sure to have optimized your source first, crap in = crap out.

Maybe you should try your new speakers with your existing amp before crying help.

I'd vary to recommend a complicated valve amp to someone with little or no experience.
I'd get a ss proper amp which work like new in say ten to twenty years, no valve amp will.
I can't remember when I lastly bought a new amp, there's so many good offers out there at half asking retail price or thereabouts.

 

I've heard the standard Falcon LS3/5a at a show and they basically sound like... an LS3/5a. I had 3 of these (Audiomaster, Rogers in the 80s and Rogers again in the 90s) and the best and most comfortable sound I got was with the Quad II amps. (I wouldn't recommend Naim-type amps.) As these are now very over-priced collectables I expect some more recent and easier to manage valve amps would be a good call - Icon Audio here in the UK are good value.
Valve Amplifiers & Hi Fi Equipment | Buy Online | Icon Audio

 

Solid-state, go with First Watt amps. Tube, go with Yaqin MC-100B. It has perfect preamp tube line-up (12AX7s driving 6SN7s). You need a phono amp with the Yaqin, but are inexpensive high quality amps.

 

The 518 is not out of production. It's now called the LM 845IA.

 

i cant find a product with that name on their store.
Line Magnetic Audio LM Tube Amplifier : China-hifi-Audio online store, Yaqin,Meixing Mingda,XiangSheng,Line Magnetic Tube Amplifier, power amp, preamp,hi-fi CD Player high end audio for sale

 

That's a gray market seller. Here is the official LM Europe site, that lists all their integrated amps: Integrated tube amplifier Line Magnetic Audio

 

is there any equal\better model that i can get from chinahifi site? i live in Israel, and shipping from EU&USA is a mess.

 

I would never recommend buying from a gray market seller, but if you have not other options, the ones on that site that are most similar to the 518 are the 218 and the 219. You could also go for more wattage with the 508 model.

 

the 845 218, or the 211?
has anyone heard one of them?

 

and i have read that el34 are better for midrange and vocals, and that they are better with ls35a, is that true?
stereophile on the other hand preferred the 845 518 over other good ones he checked.

 

Just do a search on this site. There are plenty of happy Line Magnetic owners. I've had the 216 and the 518 and loved them both. The 518 is really special.

I'm not a fan of EL34 tubes. Too rolled off for me.

 

Here is a Line Magnetic dealer in Israel. Not sure how close it is to you though. דף הבית - ארמה אודיו

 

Folk were going gaga when they displayed at a British show a year or so ago.... it is on the web somewhere.

 

what was the price of the 518? i now found one on ebay for 2600$, feels like kind of a rip of to me since it has been sold for only 1800 on china hifi.

 

They don't want to piss off their dealers. Seems reasonable to me.

 

The retail price for the 518 in the US was $4,500. They usually sell for about $2,800 - 3,500 on the secondhand market. The price on China Hifi is so cheap because they are not an official dealer and are selling gray market items.

 

what exactly do you mean by "gray market items"? are those stolen? fakes?

 

That they’re being sold without the consent of the manufacturer and they may or may not be bootleg or fake. In the US, the authorized repair center for Line Magnetic will not service gray market purchased items.

 

WOW.