Croft + Leben

[Boukman]

Amps, i would have never thought they make such a difference. In different systems i have ARC VSI55, Leben CS 300, Luxman SQ38u, Croft 25r plus Croft 7r. Croft's and Leben are the most beautiful. Especially if you put some Philips tubes in them. The ARC is extremely competent and smooth. The Luxman new and needs to be burned in, i guess. Harsh with Yamaha NS1000's. But very detailed. Good for classical.

The Leben, with Philips Miniwatt ECC83's, connected to a Sony Tts4000, with nagaoka 500 and Harbeth LS3/5a's - amazing. Even has bass despite the speakers. Incredibly fun and engaging

The Crofts, also with Philips/Amperex tubes, garrard401 with ortofon 2mblack,sme etc AND Harbeth SHl5. Wow, smooth, precise (the ortofon!) with detail, but drive musicality and depth.

Brits are kings of hifi: Alan Shaw, Glenn Croft and the folks from Garrard.

And i didnt tell you about my Quad 33/303 set.......


Everyone here should have a listen to a Leben or Croft amp. Does the job

[Dismord]

I'll agree with you about the Leben, I run one ( with original valves) into Icon Audio MB 845 II's with seductive results. However, I wouldn't be too harsh (pun intended) on the Luxman just yet as Yamaha NS 1000's on the end of my Leben/Icon Audio combination also sounded a bit savage to my ears. If however you're addicted to what the Yamaha's do so well the answer is a pair of Usher BE10's, also with Beryllium mid and treble drivers but without the savage approach of the NS 1000's. Not a cheap solution but it works for me.
Ortophon 2M Black into Harbeth's? Now that's something I'd like to hear.

[Boukman]

The NS1000's are running with the Audio Research and Croft phono stage again. Problem solved, sounds great. I will use the Luxman with my other (Rogers) LS3/5A's - will probably work well.

I love the Harbeth SHL5's, can listen to them for hours on end. And the Ortofon 2M Black produces incredibly beautiful, detailed but smooth sound.

I can highly recommend. Judging from your flag, not that practical to invite you to a listen in London!

[Dismord]

The NS1000's are running with the Audio Research and Croft phono stage again. Problem solved, sounds great. I will use the Luxman with my other (Rogers) LS3/5A's - will probably work well.

I love the Harbeth SHL5's, can listen to them for hours on end. And the Ortofon 2M Black produces incredibly beautiful, detailed but smooth sound.

I can highly recommend. Judging from your flag, not that practical to invite you to a listen in London!

Thanks for the invite. Normally I'd jump at the chance to listen to Harbeths even that far away but my overseas travelling days are over thanks to a cardiac condition and other parts of this old hulk falling apart. It's put an end to my shopping in HK for audio gear too which is very frustrating. When I ran NS1000's I couldn't get them to behave but in those days I'd sworn off anything with valves in it due to having had an Audio Research D70 Mk II explode on a regular basis. I've since also learnt from the bod I sold them to that the standard Yamaha stands they came with degrade low bass transients. He now runs them on Partington 'Dreadnoughts'(?) which I've yet to hear .
I'm thinking of investing in an Ortophon 2M black. Do they require any special loading to get the best out of them? I run a Manley 'Steelhead' phono preamp.

[Boukman]

Sorry about the cardiac condition - keep healthy! The 2m black is very easy, goes straight into the croft pre-amp's MM phono stage. Its running on an SME V on a Garrard 401. I have also had one on a heavier Jelco 750 on a Technics 1210. Also worked very well. The 2M series are very user friendly.

I also use Denon 103 and 160, not so crazy about them, a Nagaoka MP500 which is great and an SAE 1000 that I also love.

Take care - I would highly recommend the 2M black, and probably over the Nagaoka, which is in the same price bracket.

[Dismord]

Sorry about the cardiac condition - keep healthy! The 2m black is very easy, goes straight into the croft pre-amp's MM phono stage. Its running on an SME V on a Garrard 401. I have also had one on a heavier Jelco 750 on a Technics 1210. Also worked very well. The 2M series are very user friendly.

I also use Denon 103 and 160, not so crazy about them, a Nagaoka MP500 which is great and an SAE 1000 that I also love.

Take care - I would highly recommend the 2M black, and probably over the Nagaoka, which is in the same price bracket.

Thanks for the advice, I've ordered one which I'll be comparing with my Garrott 'Optim' FGS with ruby cantilever. I also run a Decca 'London' mono ( re-build by Garrott Bros) for the old stuff. http://www.garrottbrothers.com/
I've also used a number of high-end moving coils over the decades but have never found one whose high frequencies didn't annoy me. My suspicion is that many of these cartridges inadvertently compensate for hearing defects common on older males who can afford them. The closest I came to something really musical in a moving coil was an Audio Technica OC 9 III re-built and re-tipped by Garrott Bros.

[Boukman]

Great - love to hear what you think. Needs a couple of days before it sings

[Dismord]

Great - love to hear what you think. Needs a couple of days before it sings

With my average of 2 to 3 hours of LP playing a day it will take longer than a few days I imagine.
I'll get back to you when it's 'singing'.

[mikecole]

Boukman, could you describe the difference in the musical presentation between the Croft and the Leben. I had been toying with the idea of replacing my Leben CS300XS with a Croft 25/7 (but not the "R" version), due to the heat output of the Leben and the possibilty that the Croft would be a better match for my speakers.

[Dismord]

Great - love to hear what you think. Needs a couple of days before it sings

This is a fabulous cartridge. It doesn't however quite equal the main strengths of my Garrott 'Optim' FGS with the ruby cantilever but that cost me almost twice as much. You may think this disgusting but I bought the Black to play LP's purchased from garbage sales etc just in cast they might destroy my Garrott with ground in rocks or whatever that my record cleaning machine hadn't removed.
I'm running it into a Manley 'Steelhead' and have yet to experiment with different input settings so the ranking could change.

[Boukman]

Dismond - Leben vs Croft is a good question. I haven't used them side by side with the same speakers. The Croft pre-amp has a built in phono stage (excellent, but MM only), and the power has much more power, tighter bass and grip (probably because of the mosfet output stage in the power amp vs the EL84's in the Leben). But the Leben 'sings' more and may be a little more coloured or 'musical'. I would say that the Crofts are more neutral, powerful and grown-up. However, some of this may be because i use the Crofts with my Harbeth SHL5's and the Leben with my LS3/5a's.

I should check out the Garrot. I am currently 'burning-in' an SAE1000e in the office to replace a Denon DL160. Still getting used to it....

[Boukman]

Last night I compared the crofts with a Luxman Sq38. The Lux is similar to the Leben's - all valve. The Luxman with stock valves sounded very thin and shrill. I replaced the tubes with Philips Miniwatt ECC83's, Valvo ECC82's and Telefunken EL34's. Major improvement. But still, the Croft beats it big time - soundstage and tighter bass.

What's nice about the Lux is the MC and MM phono stage, remote control, some tone controls etc. The Luxman is now powering a pair of Rogers LS3/5a's fed by a Garrard 401 with SME 3009S2/SAE 1000LT. To great satisfaction.

But my favourites remain my other LS3/5a's with the Leben and the Harbeth SHL5's with the Crofts.