After reading John Marks' review of the Leben CS600 in the June 2010 issue of Stereophile, it reminded me of past Stereophile mentions of Leben integrated amplifiers at various Hi-Fi shows, so I thought I'd post them so you could go check them out. The first one is Robert Deutsch's mention of the Leben CS600... Read More »

For all of you Leben fans out there (count me as one), I thought I'd let you know that John Marks did a very nice review of the Leben CS600 integrated amplifier in his The Fifth Element column for the June 2010 issue of Stereophile. It's really nice to see Leben get some visibility in... Read More »

My Tannoy Westminster Royal Special Edition article just went live in the May/June 2010 edition of Positive Feedback Online. You can read it here.

It's always nice to get out and listen to some live music to recalibrate your expectations for home Hi-Fi listening. While staying at the La Conner Channel Lodge in Washington State I was able to listen to some nice jazz piano playing by a local musician, whose name I unfortunately did not catch. Even though... Read More »

I finished up my article on my new Tannoy Westminster Royal Special Edition loudspeakers and submitted it to Ye Olde Editors Dave and David at Positive Feedback Online, so it should be going live before long (I'll update with a link when it goes live). I love these speakers!

Static electricity had been giving me fits so I ended up putting a record mat on my VPI Classic to see if it would help - it did. I listened to it with the mat on it for a while, and then went back to using the platter nude (the platter, not me - see... Read More »

I've had this post in draft for a while now, but due to general busyness it took me a while to get around to getting it posted. - but here it is. It's easy to take things for granted in life, and the Shuguang KT-66 vacuum tubes that come stock in the Leben CS660P power... Read More »

I hadn't tried my reference Leben RS28CX Premium preamplifier in the system yet with my VPI Classic turntable and the Westminster Royal Special Edition loudspeakers, so this morning I removed the Leben RS100U/RS30EQ combination that I've been using (excellent), and replaced it with the RS28CX Premium. Wow! The RS28CX Premium is a match made in... Read More »

I just purchased a VPI Classic turntable to use as my vinyl source, and I have to say it is a beautifully made turntable. It's got a heavy machined aluminum platter, a heavy chassis, a nice walnut finish that matches my walnut equipment cabinet, and it's just a general pleasure to use and listen to.... Read More »

I’m a big fan of the New Old Stock Russian 6n3cE vacuum tubes and have been using them in my Leben CS-600 integrated amplifier and Leben CS-660P power amplifier since I bought them several years ago. The 6n3cE is all about tone, color, musicality, and is very evenly balanced top to bottom frequency wise. It... Read More »

I thought a blog format would be a helpful resource for Acoustic Revive owners by providing snippets of information or after thoughts that you wouldn’t find in the published articles. To kick off the blog I thought I’d provide you the links to the published articles from the Acoustic Revive Chronicles so they would be... Read More »

I fell in love with the Leben Hi-Fi electronics back in February of 2007 when I wrote an article about the Leben CS600 integrated amplifier for 6Moons. I ended up buying the review unit (the ultimate recommendation) and have been using it nearly every day in my second system, which is in a small “BBC-sized”... Read More »

Did you know that Tannoy is the oldest loudspeaker company in the world? Tannoy was founded by Guy R. Fountain (above) in 1926 and has been making loudspeakers now for over 84 years. ‘Tannoy’ was trademarked as a name in 1928, and was located in London until 1975, when it relocated to Coatbridge, Scotland, where... Read More »

Each Westminster Royal SE speaker cabinet incorporates two 11-foot long rear folded horns - composed of 30 individual panels - that couple to the rear of the Dual Concentric™ drive unit and exit at the front cabinet corners (see the cutaway diagram of the cabinet above). The rear horn starts acoustic coupling to the drive... Read More »

The Westminster Royal SE uses the latest and most refined version of Tannoy’s Dual Concentric™ 15-inch Alcomax 3 drive unit, which incorporates Alnico magnets and a computer designed and manufactured reverse throat high frequency Pepper-Pot Wave Guide™. I thought I’d add some detail photos of the Westminster so you could get a closer look. I... Read More »

I used my little Leica D-LUX 4 point-and-shoot camera to do a ‘walk-around’ of the Westminsters so you could get a better look at them. This is my first attempt at video so please forgive the amateur nature of it. Enjoy!

I get to try a lot of really good amplifiers with my Westminsters, but it seems I am always eager to get my Leben Hi-Fi Company CS660P power amplifier back into the system. The CS660P is shown here with Tung-Sol 6L6G reissue vacuum tubes that are made in Russia for New Sensor. See larger image... Read More »

I’ve been finding out all kinds of interesting things about Tannoy as I’ve been preparing the Westminster Royal SE article for Positive Feedback Online. By the way, the photo above is of Westminster Palace, once the home of the ancient Kings of England, now the home of Parliament, and the Royal SE’s namesake. I’ll only... Read More »

My friend Ron brought over his little 4 watt Transcendent OTL single ended mono amps to give a listen to on the Westminsters. These are very refined little amps with a natural and relaxed presentation on the Westminsters. They didn’t seem to really have enough power at 4 watts to make the Westminsters come alive... Read More »

My friend Ron has more cool Hi-Fi gear than most Hi-Fi shops. After I got the Westminsters dialed in Ron brought over his little Master Sound Caesar 300B integrated amplifier from Italy. The Caesar is a beautiful little amplifier that is made to an extremely high quality standard. Its 9 watts sounds massively powerful on... Read More »

As I mentioned in my previous post, Tannoy makes each pair of Westminster Royal Special Editions special for each customer as an order is received, so it takes a while from the time you place an order until they make your pair, test them, and ship them to their eagerly awaiting new owner (me in... Read More »

I fell in love with the Leben Hi-Fi Stereo Company and the electronics designs of  Mr. Taku Hyodo, the founder of Leben Hi-Fi Stereo Company (shown left with the RS30EQ phono stage). I hope to make this blog a resource for Leben enthusiasts like myself. Enjoy!

Those who have been following the Acoustic Revive Chronicles I have been writing at 6Moons and now Positive Feedback Online know all about the Acoustic Revive system & room tuning products, of which I am a big fan. The Acoustic Revive system and room tuning accessories are from the creative mind of Mr. Ken Ishiguro,... Read More »