Leak stereo 30

[istari_knight]

Whats the story ? :eyebrows:

Currently in the market for Quad 33/303/fm3 but I'm playing the long game & waiting for the right ones to come along. In the meantime I'm thinking of playing with another period amp to go with my magnum K's... The Leak stereo 30.

What are the one's to go for, 30 or 30 plus ? Obviously any will need a service but is there a large difference in sound quality between germanium/silicon outputs ?

As I'm sure you can tell I know sweet naff all about amplifiers this age so any advice/information will be very welcome, cheers :cool:

[vinylspinner]

Hi James,

I have a spare stereo 30 if you are interested.

regards

Nigel

[Rare Bird]

If your going for one make sure it's a '30 Plus' version. Beware that the Phono sockets on the rear are usually in bad shape aswell have have around 1/2'' centre's which will need really small diameter phono plug barrels. you need the speaker plugs with the amp too cos they can be a pig to source..

[istari_knight]

Hi James,

I have a spare stereo 30 if you are interested.

regards

Nigel

I've sent you a PM about it Nigel :)

[istari_knight]

If your going for one make sure it's a '30 Plus' version. Beware that the Phono sockets on the rear are usually in bad shape aswell have have around 1/2'' centre's which will need really small diameter phono plug barrels. you need the speaker plugs with the amp too cos they can be a pig to source..

Thanks for that, I've got loads of those freebie phono cables with the plastic ends do you think they'll fit ? I've seen those speaker plugs on ebay... £15 a pair they want ! Sod that I'll solder me speaker cable to a pair of correct diameter nails ;):lol:

[Rare Bird]

The barrels wanna be approx 10mm diameter..

Don't get those speaker plugs mixed up with the leak transformer bridging link, they look simular..

[Macca]

Heres a picture of mine, can't recall if it is a 30 or a 30 plus but it has normal phono sockets.

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac233/Macca_photos_2009/Picture019.jpg

[Rare Bird]

Heres a picture of mine, can't recall if it is a 30 or a 30 plus but it has normal phono sockets.



It says 'PLUS' on the front :lol:

They do have normal plugs but what i'm pointing out is they are approx 1/2'' centres where as these days they are approx 3/4'' centres

[Macca]

It says 'PLUS' on the front :lol:

They do have normal plugs but what i'm pointing out is they are approx 1/2'' centres where as these days they are approx 3/4'' centres

You mean top right? I can't read that on my TV it just looks black:lol: - bought this with a delta 30 tuner (the later one) and a Sanyo direct drive TT in mint condition, think it was £35 the lot.

[istari_knight]

Yeah not big money hence being perfect to play with.

The styling of the Leaks kinda reminds me of my voigtlander vito b which is pretty damn cool in my book :smoking:

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c129/istari_knight9/3250561675_d67c16ac60_z_zps6cd30c1d.jpg

[Rare Bird]

I know what you mean James, loverly finish with real Chromplated facia edges, only downside is the lettering is very delicate. I have a 'Stereo 70' but looking for a mint '30 Plus' misen loike.

The dummy Control knob inserted in the headphone output is just a great touch.

[Mr Kipling]

Stan Curtis, who you couldn't really accuse of have cloth ears going by his design history, wasn't a fan. Have a read on his site. I would have thought though that Harold Leak would have made some effort to get his first transistor effort to sound reasonable.

[The Grand Wazoo]

....would have made some effort to get his first transistor effort to sound reasonable.

Have you ever used one? Blimey, it wasn't that bad.

[Mr Kipling]

Have you ever used one? Blimey, it wasn't that bad.

Well, there you go, Chris. An example of interperating a remark in a way that wasn't intended, but I see now understandable. If communication could be made 100% effective what sort of world might we have?

I was meaning that I wouldn't have thought Mr Leak would have just thrown together a product just to take advantage of the then new technology. Actually, I have a Stereo Seventy Plus.

[The Grand Wazoo]

Yes, communication by typing is tricky sometimes, eh?!

I apologise if I appeared quick to bite but what I thought you were saying is something I have a bit of a thing about. I think the trouble with Leak is that there were so many great products that the OK ones are kind of tarnished by association. The result is that some perfectly good pieces have acquired a terrible reputation - Stereofetic tuners must be crap because they're not as good as the Troughline - that kind of thing. The fact is, they were perfectly good devices for the purpose they were built for, in their own time.

[Rare Bird]

The 'Stereo 30' & Stereo 30 Plus' are not the same.Two obvious difference are: The 'Stereo 30' is built on one PCB & has a variable Filter + Slope, the '30 Plus' is simular idea to the Quad '33', Armstrong '421'/'521' etc has slot in cards, no Filter/Slope. & obviously ones a Germanium based Design the tuther a Silicon design, same as the differences between the Armstrong '421'/'521'.

The 'Stereo 70', i also like but not a fan of the press buttons which are visually simular to the original Sugden 'A21'/'A48'. ive always been a Knob man see :lol: .. As Chris Points out the 'Stereofetic' tooner that matches the 'Stereo 70' is a pretty good tooner IMHO..

[Mr Kipling]

Sorry, Chris. Even my reply lacks the clarity I intended having just read it.Touch of the George Bush style of linguistics about it. But you know what I mean. I was tired when I wrote it.

[The Grand Wazoo]

No, it's fine Stephen, I got your meaning.

[Mr Kipling]

Perhaps it was the dead mouse in Stan's '30 that was the problem?

[Mr Kipling]

The last amp that I re-built was the Stereo Seventy, which was quite some years ago and it was then that I started to harbour doubts about using Maplins' 1% 0.6W metal film resistors willy-nilly. They gave the usual improvement: cleaner, clear, brighter sound - but there was a glaze to the sound and vocals lost warmth and sounded pinched. Replacing the can type decoupling capacitors caused a loss of dimension also. Same thing with the output caps. I put the originals back and bypassed them with Solens.

[Rare Bird]

:lolsign: i use modern carbon films loike.. Takman's on vintage transistor re-builds.