walpurgis
27-08-2012, 15:45
I got together with Shane (southall-1998) today at my place and we had a little session comparing amplifiers.
I have to say Shane's Leak Stereo 20 was sounding remarkably sweet and lucid. To start with we tried it driven by my Meridian 507 and new Mei Xing TVC pre-amp via my Tannoy Eatons. It didn't sound bad at all.
Later I connected my Forte Model 2 pre-amp and that also sounded pretty decent.
My Monarchy SM-70 Pro was then substituted for the Stereo 20 and I think that combination was a bit more natural and its the one I use most of the time.
A Parasound Zamp v.3 power-amp was then tried, but did not really come to life in this set-up. It sounds great with my VTL Deluxe pre-amp though.
Neither did we get particularly good results with Shane's Albarry passive pre-amp, which gave a rather flat and lightweight sound, his Stereo 20 definitely deserves better.
We then put the Tannoy System 800 speakers on the end of the system and they sounded very promising, but there was still something else to try so I put my EAR 834L pre-amp into use and immediately it was evident that this is a great match to the Leak Stereo 20. There was more body and great transparency and smooth detail, bass extension now being quite dramatic.
This was the best sound of the day, very nice indeed.
We also used my KingRex PreAmp, which actually sounded pretty close to the 834L overall, but it had rather a high output which had to be brought down with a couple of Rothwell attenuators, still a good sound though.
I've heard many Stereo 20 Leaks and Shane's was definitely one of the best. With the System 800 Tannoys and the EAR 834L it sounded superb.
Wonder what gear we'll be using next time. Maybe my Tannoy Cheviots will be restored by then and I may dig out my EL34 monoblocks.
Geoff.
I have to say Shane's Leak Stereo 20 was sounding remarkably sweet and lucid. To start with we tried it driven by my Meridian 507 and new Mei Xing TVC pre-amp via my Tannoy Eatons. It didn't sound bad at all.
Later I connected my Forte Model 2 pre-amp and that also sounded pretty decent.
My Monarchy SM-70 Pro was then substituted for the Stereo 20 and I think that combination was a bit more natural and its the one I use most of the time.
A Parasound Zamp v.3 power-amp was then tried, but did not really come to life in this set-up. It sounds great with my VTL Deluxe pre-amp though.
Neither did we get particularly good results with Shane's Albarry passive pre-amp, which gave a rather flat and lightweight sound, his Stereo 20 definitely deserves better.
We then put the Tannoy System 800 speakers on the end of the system and they sounded very promising, but there was still something else to try so I put my EAR 834L pre-amp into use and immediately it was evident that this is a great match to the Leak Stereo 20. There was more body and great transparency and smooth detail, bass extension now being quite dramatic.
This was the best sound of the day, very nice indeed.
We also used my KingRex PreAmp, which actually sounded pretty close to the 834L overall, but it had rather a high output which had to be brought down with a couple of Rothwell attenuators, still a good sound though.
I've heard many Stereo 20 Leaks and Shane's was definitely one of the best. With the System 800 Tannoys and the EAR 834L it sounded superb.
Wonder what gear we'll be using next time. Maybe my Tannoy Cheviots will be restored by then and I may dig out my EL34 monoblocks.
Geoff.