Hi All there, Recently I owned for brief time the McIntosh MC240 and liked the sound, due to reliability issues I had return back to the seller and now I am looking for 30-40 watts tube amplifier, similar(not same as I understand we can't same sound characteristics) to McIntosh MC240 sound character . I have short listed and can have the audition of Leben CS600X and Octave V70se but now with my speakers. Would like to whether Leben CS600X or Octave V70se will be close to McIntosh MC240. I will be pairing with Rosso fiorentino fiesole speakers.
The Cayin A88T was designed to mimic the sound of Mac tube amps, specifically the 275 if I’m not mistaken. Whether they achieved that goal I cannot say, but I can vouch for it being a great sounding amp and a stupendous value. Of the two on your list I would have to go with the Octave if only for the fact the Leben doesn’t allow remote control. Another factor in the Octave’s favor is it measures fairly well for a tube amp.
Thanks, few years back I have listened to Cayin Integrate, but cant recall which model, sounded okay. Can live without Remote, currently my AN OTO and SPEC class D doesn't have remote, maybe in future when age catches up, remote maybe necessity.
I own the Leben CS600X and love it. One thing I’d be a little hesitant on for you is that your speakers aren’t very efficient, at 87db. Are you sure the max of 32 watts from the Leben will power them well enough?
The Octave would make more sense with those sensitivity numbers. I own an Octave V110 and it is very good. However it doesn't have as much tube magic as the Leben (or your Oto).
I bet DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/96 should be great match, any other speakers you would like to recommend with Leben
Few occasions have listened to Octave V70se paired with B&W 705S2, the combination was revealing, the vocals were bit sharp.
Octave despite being a tube amp, it really doesn’t sound like one. Heard them on few occasions and they sound like any modern tube amps. Now not all modern tube amps sound like solid states but many do. Leben on the other hand is more about that sweet sound. If you care about ultra realistic sound, enormous soundstage and resolving sonics, well look somewhere else. If you would like to get intimate and as close to music one possible can, well Leben will most definitely get you there. Although a correct speakers pairing is necessary, otherwise you will end up with a 8K amp sounding like a piece of crap. Well maybe not in that extent but with Leben matching is crucial.
I can confirm that CS600X does not have enough power to drive 90dB DeVore Gibbon X to 85-90 dB Leven without hardening associated with clipping. On dynamic (not compressed) music, Leben is unfortunately running out of steam....Play Jeff Hamilton's Yesterday from Live! album......yes, you will be greatly disappointed unless you connect speakers over 100dB in sensitivity. Blows my mind how some pairs CS600X with Harbeths!
This is definitely a bit overblown. The 600X should have more than enough power for the DeVore X. Not sure how loud you’re listening, but I can’t imagine at normal, even slightly loud volumes, that the Leben would start clipping. Maybe try some 6L6GC tubes like I mentioned in your thread as they increase the power from 28w (w/ EL34) to 32w. Also, I use my Leben with DeVore O/96 speakers which are under 100db and have never come close to clipping.
28W is virtually identical to 32W. Also Leben generates decent amount of distortion - 1% at 14W (4 or 8 Ohms) and 5% at 25W. All that at 1kHz! At whole bandwidth 20-20kHz, these numbers are even lower.....let's not jump to conclusions that this is enough to drive 89-90 dB, 3m away, to 90dB level. There is really no nomenclature that standardize how tube amp specs are given - this is very confusing for many. We can say that Leben will provide 50W but at 30% distortion..... Also, I am just report my findings.....some are running Harbeths with 10W Audio note OTO and love the results......I heard Leben with 102dB horns and Klispsh Lascala - that's where it truly shines!
Just for arguments sake, the DeVore X are 91.5db efficiency and never drop below 7.3 Ohms. I can’t see how 32 or even 28w is not enough power for them.
