Leben CS300XS - Lifting off the Lid

Dearest Leben Friends, a look inside the CS300XS!...and sharing with all of you the process of changing the valves/tubes to the Mullard NOS 12AX7s and the Harma Cryo-treated Burst-tested EL84s.
Best Regards everyone!!!
- ian :-)

[@tommethans7827]

I didn't know you had a Leben. Beautiful. What kind of speakers are those?

[@lebenhifi-7067]

Tom Methans Buddy!!! Sorry to have missed your message!! The speakers are the AudioNote AN-K/Lx speakers. Adapted from the Snell K. After very painstakingly hearing Kef, Dali, B&W, Quad, harbeth, graham, chario, devore fidelity, ProAc standmounters, i realise what stupendous sound quality that can be had with the Ks at the same or lower price point than these other competitors. The Ks exude amazing CLARITY, TRANSPARENCY, AND MUSICALITY much, much more than the other speakers. The Ks have smooth, airy high frequencies. The bass is VERY TUNEFUL and coherent...and works beautifully with my room (3.3m × 3.8m). There is no boom. AND I MARVEL at the tunefulness and *DETAIL* the bass notes have😄!!!!!!!! The soundstaging is wide and deep!! Very, very, very spacious. Imaging is superb. Right sized vocals, seaparate and contrasting with other images e.g. saxophone, drum set😊!!! Unlike the competitors. Lovely. The transparency, dynamics, musicality is just way above the competitors.

[@tommethans7827]

Hello Friend. The AudioNote certainly had some stiff competition - especially among the English speakers. Enjoy them!

[@m.m8289]

@@lebenhifi-7067 hello . LX is the standard versión?

[@m.m8289]

Hello audio note an-k works well at low volume? I listen to a lot of music at night and I can not put loud volume. I need speakers that work well at low volume Thank you

[@lebenhifi-7067]

Yes my friend :-D they work extremely well at low volume!!!!!!!! Thank you for catching up here!

[@derekwoolston3564]

Delicious Mullard Military M8137/ECC83, the best of the best long life valve. The ordinary Mullard ECC83 is really good but cannot match M8137 for clarity of soundstage, depth, focus, expression and musicality. The harma EL84L is a favorite for creamy musicality and long life also. As you know I swop between the EL84L and Mullard EL84 valves. It's an intriguing switch which highlights sound quality and the joy of listening to ones favourite music. Great video, enjoy your new valves with those AN-K speakers which look very appetizing.

[@salvadorrodenas3071]

Very beautiful inside, the quality is evident.

[@ianmedium]

such a beautiful clean design inside. I too use rubber gloves to remove my valves, makes it so much easier!

[@edwardbarr1533]

Hello old mate and a happy new year to you and your lovely wife.Have heard a Leben only once and was most impressed ,I look forward to following your new adventures in valve land magnificent build quality, I think your days of solid state might be over

[@lebenhifi-7067]

Hi Ted!!! :-D Yes, I am enjoying my Leben very well and thanks to some British friends who are experts in tube gear... and my countless times of listening to it at my retailer's store in the past two years, and a record store which sports a CS300xs with AN-K too.... I am always impressed. So finally I took the bite and got one for myself :-D Do you mind sharing with me your tube gear as well? My wife loves the Leben for its sound and looks too, for the past two years too! Dear Ted, thank you my old mate, for coming by and lending your support and chatting up. I am very grateful to your friendship and gestures all along. Warmest (tube warmth :-D ) regards, ian.

[@pennfootball71]

I love your videos you know your stuff! I appreciate you using gloves you really don't want oils from your fingerprints on the tubes it might not make them last as long.

[@XjunkieNL]

Hahah, just discovered your second channel, Ian. An amazing and beautiful looking piece of electronics. Very special. Cheers. /Paul

[@lebenhifi-7067]

Yo BRO!!! Sorry for my late reply!!! :-D Thank you and hehheh nice to be chatting with you over phone 3 weeks ago!! :-D Updates my friend!

[@lioncityhyperbole]

Hi Ian! Thank you! How would you think using sovtek el84M might sound instead?

[@user-id6hf7fq6v]

Вещь!

[@venkatreddy6810]

Hi, How can I know the tube life CS300XS (i.e when should I change the tubes), will the tubes have some symptoms like changing the color). What is the original color glow of tubes in CS300XS

[@yippie6862]

Hi friend! What's the difference between the CS300XS and CS300F?

[@markburrell8320]

Are you still happy with your Leben? What Cable do you use ? Thank you Sir . Greetings from Switzerland ✋🏼

[@raymondchew8894]

How's the sound?

[@DimitrisRethymno]

Hi Ian I have been looking for Leben online because I can’t hear it in person have you ever listened to preamp and power Leben RS28CX full function preamplifier (with phono stage) and Leben cs1000p can you tell me what do you think of this or if someone you know has listened to them and your or their impressions and if you ever hooked it up with the B&W's what is your impression Thanks Dimitris

[@lebenhifi-7067]

Wooooohhh... the RS28 and 1000P! I have not heard them before. I believe them to be exquisite sounding! The CS300 with Mullard ECC83s and Harma Cryo-treated Burst-tested E84Ls (from watfordvalves.com) is amazingly great with the AudioNote speakers. They have me very satiated and engaged in musical bliss, enjoyment and appreciation. Very fast-transients, very CLEAR, very dynamic, and detailed. Very happy owner. I am guided to this by another British friend who have many years of tube ownerships and rolling. Thank you for your time, and I am sorry for my late reply. Warmest Regards, ~ ian.

[@jou1969]

And that's all? No bias adjustment?

[@Kozi_art]

Kimber cables???

[@user-en8mj3lh7r]

Hii bro , i am thinking about getting a tube amp , my choices will be between unison research italy or leben cs 300 xs , unison research is class A and leben is auto bias , i am not audience them yet ??? Have u already lusten to unison research ?? ,my speaker is dynaudio emit 20 and excite 38

[@salvadorrodenas3071]

I thought you disliked BBC sound, I remember you rejecting some Harbeth. Is there any difference between Harbeth and Audio Note loudspeakers? I suppose AN UK,

[@Zaiderrr]

Hai, what speaker is that in the video ?

[@lebenhifi-7067]

Brother, they are the AudioNote AN-K/Lx speakers. EXTREMELY GOOD. Much better than ATC SCM11, 40, Harbeth SH5Plus, ProAcs Tablettes, Chario Ghibli, which I have tested. The AN-Ks are so TRANSPARENT, OPEN, DYNAMIC, BEGUILING CLEAR MIDRANGE, BALANCED:TOP-MID-BOTTOM audio spectrum/frequencies. BASS is very CLEAR, TUNEFUL, DYNAMIC AND MUSICAL. My room is 3.6 x 3.8m. The Zu Audio Superfly is very good, but I prefer standmounters for this system in my room. Two of my friends who owned many types of speakers before, have also finally found and settled on these AudioNote speakers. Best Regards!

[@DimitrisRethymno]

Leben hifi :-) Hi Ian hope I am not bothering you how do you compare to the B&W you have and sorry for yesterday’s message I thought it was Avid preamp line stage and I saw it was a Vitus integrated vs the Leben integrated.

[@lebenhifi-7067]

It is okay my friend! The B&Ws are not suited for the Leben (15wpc). The Vitus would be suited for the B&Ws instead. Thank you my friend!

[@Fernsehenpfanger]

Russian name of EL-84 The "6П14П" - "6P14P" )))

[@lebenhifi-7067]

Wow thank you!!!!! :-D thank you for sharing with us this information! Warmest regards Sir!

[@nihongo1]

The first rule of playing with electronics = unplug it before you reach inside.