I just clicked 'send' to get my 2010 PFO Writers' Choice Awards on the way to PFO Editors Dave and David. As I mentioned earlier, by visiting my blog you get a preview of coming attractions before it goes into print at that esteemed magazine.

We writers hand out the PFO Awards for those stellar few items that we have reviewed over the past year that really impressed us with their musical prowess. We get to pick three awards maximum, so that means there are other deserving products that get left on the cutting room floor. This was a banner year for me on the equipment front, and it made it really easy for me to pick out deserving awards.

As per the earlier Award post, the first winner for 2010 was ... drum roll ... the Tannoy Westminster Royal Special Edition loudspeakers ($35,000 USD). It's expensive enough to make your teeth hurt, but worth every penny.

Now for the the next step on the podium - the Leben RS-30EQ Phono Preamplifier ($2495 USD). Unlike the staggeringly expensive Westminster Royal SE loudspeakers above, my next award recommendation is the vacuum tube Leben RS-30EQ phono preamplifier, which falls into everyman’s land price-wise at $2495 USD, so nearly all of us can experience its musical charms if we want to.

This hand made piece of audio art has been wowing music lovers around the world at the Salon de Image show in Toronto in the hands of Jonathan Halpern of Tone Imports. Jonathan imports Leben electronics (and other audio delicacies) to the North American market, and has been using the Leben RS-30EQ as the anchor for winning combinations of Hi-Fi gear that punch WAY ABOVE their weight, often winning ‘best sound of show’ over competitors with Hi-Fi systems that are 10 to 100 times more expensive, and that’s coming from the hard to impress Stereophile writers like Stephen Mejias, John Atkinson, Robert Deutsch, John Marks, and Art. Interesting eh?

Whether the RS-30EQ is paired with the CS-600 or the CS-300X integrated amplifiers, the Leben RS-30EQ phono stage demonstrates a combination of low noise, freedom from obvious coloration, high transparency, high resolution, extended high frequencies, gorgeously liquid mid-range performance, deep and articulate bass response, superb dynamics, superb imaging, impressive soundstaging, and a natural musical expressiveness that makes it extremely involving to listen to LPs with. Not only that, but the Leben RS-30EQ is fun to listen to LPs with. Fun isn't something that fits into musical or sonic categories, but is perhaps more important than either, and over and over again I find myself forgetting about Hi-Fi stuff and just found myself getting lost in the fun of listening to music on LPs, which at the end of the day is what it's all about for me.

I'll tell you what, the combination of the Leben RS-30EQ phono preamplifier, the Leben CS-300X or CS-600 integrated amplifier, and my Tannoy Westminster Royal SE loudspeakers makes for a shockingly good Hi-Fi system—a minimalist super-system for the music lover—and one I could easily be content with until my last breath on planet Earth!

So there you have it. The Leben RS-30EQ phono preamplifier is really something special, and a stone-cold bargain at its $2595 US asking price. You can build a superbly musical high-performance audio system around a Leben RS-30EQ phono preamplifier and Leben integrated amplifier that doesn't cost a fortune by using a pair of smaller Harbeth, ProAc, or DeVore Fidelity loudspeakers. Knowing that a simple Leben system KO'd some of the biggest names in audio at Salon Son and Image two years running, you can just sit back, relax, enjoy the music, and quit worrying about gear. The line to sign up for a Leben RS-30EQ forms at the right, but don't dally too long, or you might be in for a long wait.

Get the full story on the Leben RS-30EQ in the Positive Feedback Online Review here: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue43/leben.htm

Leben RS-30EQ Web Site: http://lebenhifi.com/products/rs30eq.html

Tone Imports Web site: http://www.toneimports.com/

For more information about arranging for an audition or purchasing the Leben RS-30EQ phono preamplifier in North America contact Jonathan Halpern, Tone Imports, at [email protected] or 646-425-7800 Mon-Thurs 12PM-6PM EST.

For more information about arranging for an audition or purchasing the Leben RS-30EQ phono preamplifier in markets other than North America contact Mr. Yoshi Hontani at [email protected]

The third and final award is yet to come ...