Hello from Cornwall

[ashleyk]

Hello,
I can't claim to be any kind of real hi-fi expert but I've just been given a few old pieces by my father that haven't been used for a good 15 years, however I'd quite like to get it up and running again if it makes sense and the costs aren't excessive. The basis of the equipment is a Leak 20 valve amplifier from 1962 I believe and an Arcam Delta 270 CD player. There are no speakers at present and I'll have to do some research for a sensible solution at some stage. It's old gear and may cause laughter these days but I recall it sounded pretty magical at the time, though it's unfortunate he got rid of the Linn Sondek.

That's probably enough said for a first post :)

Ashley
PS I'd forgotten to add there is a Creek tuner that was nothing special but perfectly reasonable for radio listening.

[Alex_UK]

Hi Ashley, and welcome to AoS. :)


It's old gear and may cause laughter these days

Probably the opposite - especially the Leak 20 - very sought after and well regarded - the basis of a very good system you have there. :thumbsup:

What are your musical tastes?

If you're after some speakers, then suggest starting a new thread and give us some idea of budget and roughly what you're after (i.e. floorstanders or bookshelf) and then cue 25 different suggestions to make the decision even harder! ;)

Hope you enjoy the forum.

[Firebottle]

...a Leak 20 valve amplifier from 1962
Ashley

Hi Ashley, having heard one I can concur that they perform very well. It may need a few components updating, but not that many.
The design is a good 'un.

Welcome and enjoy the forum,

:cool:Alan

[ashleyk]

Hi Alex,
I remember the huge difference it made to my father's system when he exchanged a budget priced Creek amp for the Leak but it looked like something out of the ark back then, so I did wonder if it might compare rather poorly with modern equivalents. At the time I had a Rega Planar 3 with a Nytech amp that sounded substandard in comparison but I was fine with that at 16.

The Arcam was basically a replacement for the Linn turntable as his interest waned and he had a huge pair of Monitor Audio speakers that probably ended up at a dump just to save space. I remember they had some "adjustments" and he described them as a wolf in sheep's clothing with monster cabling that were literally bolted into the floor. The Leak was mounted on a piece of Cornish granite that we still have.

I'd quite like to get a reasonable setup but I'm aware of the slippery slope where hi-fi fans are never satisfied and spend an awful lot of money that could probably be spent more wisely elsewhere, so the aim is to get something respectable and just be satisfied... It probably sounds a bit lame but music enjoyment hasn't been a major part of my life now for 20+ years since I've just been too caught up in my work, so most of my listening has been done in the car driving from one place to another. I'm a photographer and there is often music being played in various studios but it's very rarely something I personally enjoy.

As far as musical tastes go I guess it varies but I do seem to be allergic to practically anything from the last 25 years and I tend to favour pretty mellow stuff. I've been slowly building a wish list on iTunes and it includes music from Bill Withers, Bread, John Lennon, The Alan Parsons Project, Christopher Cross, Paul Simon, Burt Bacharach, The Eagles and Gilbert O'Sullivan. Apart from that I've always liked classic Motown but many of the older recordings seem to be pretty poor quality.

I'll start another thread regarding the speakers but I'm really looking for something reasonably small due to space constraints and l'm not after huge volume or attacking sound. It just needs something that will sit nicely with the amp and my relaxed music.

Thanks

Ashley

[ashleyk]

Hi Ashley, having heard one I can concur that they perform very well. It may need a few components updating, but not that many.
The design is a good 'un.

Welcome and enjoy the forum,

:cool:Alan

Hi Alan,
The Leak was completely overhauled at the time it was purchased but that would have been 20 years ago. I know we still have spare new valves in their boxes that have never been opened. I won't have the amp in my possession for another couple of weeks so I'll try to do some research in the meanwhile but it looks like it has fairly modern gold connections, however the power point looks ancient with a round fitting. I gather you have to be careful starting these up after many years of inactivity. As you can see from the attached images it needs a good clean.

Thanks

Ashley

990199029903

[Effem]

Hi Ashley,

You are not on your own in Cornwall, so don't forget you have help close at hand if needed

[ashleyk]

Hi Ashley,

You are not on your own in Cornwall, so don't forget you have help close at hand if needed

Thanks Frank, that's good to know. Are there any good hi-fi specialists you can recommend in this part of the country? I'm in St Austell but totally out of touch with this sort of thing. Years ago there was a dealer in Newquay who supplied products from Linn and Naim etc but he is probably long gone by now and I think he did it as a sort of part-time hobby/job. My father told me yesterday that he found the Leak from a specialist in St Austell but he couldn't remember the name anymore.

[istari_knight]

Thanks Frank, that's good to know. Are there any good hi-fi specialists you can recommend in this part of the country? I'm in St Austell but totally out of touch with this sort of thing. Years ago there was a dealer in Newquay who supplied products from Linn and Naim etc but he is probably long gone by now and I think he did it as a sort of part-time hobby/job. My father told me yesterday that he found the Leak from a specialist in St Austell but he couldn't remember the name anymore.

9905 here too :wave:

The only "dealer" I use is Audio-Cinema in Truro... Really good blokes there http://www.audio-cinema.co.uk/

EDIT: Looking at their website they appear to be rather more exclusive than when I last visited:eek:

[ashleyk]

9905 here too :wave:

The only "dealer" I use is Audio-Cinema in Truro... Really good blokes there http://www.audio-cinema.co.uk/

EDIT: Looking at their website they appear to be rather more exclusive than when I last visited:eek:

Blimey they do look rather posh and the Lemon Street address is a bit of a giveaway as well. I managed to find another place that does a bit of sales and repair work in Penwith http://www.bigearsaudio.org.uk. Perhaps dealer was the wrong word and I guess I'm just looking for somebody with decent knowledge who can offer sensible solutions for repairs and equipment purchases. I'd rather deal locally if possible.

[Effem]

Blimey they do look rather posh and the Lemon Street address is a bit of a giveaway as well. I managed to find another place that does a bit of sales and repair work in Penwith http://www.bigearsaudio.org.uk. Perhaps dealer was the wrong word and I guess I'm just looking for somebody with decent knowledge who can offer sensible solutions for repairs and equipment purchases. I'd rather deal locally if possible.

Bigears Audio stocks and sells vintage audio so he would be a good dealer to make contact with

[Gordon Steadman]

That amp is magical, I have only just replaced mine in the main system after 25 years of pleasure. What pre-amp will you be using or did I miss something? Mine sounded very fine with a Creek passive although the Quad 34 was pretty good too.

Its a pity space is a problem as the 20 sounds really good with my Quad ESL57s. I also ran it into Kef 101s which were pretty nice too. You can get those for very little when they come up, unlike the LS35a which, to my ears at least, don't sound quite as 'musical' ie when they are playing I tend to hop up and down less in time to the music. I would think a system based on the Leak/Kefs would suit your choice of music quite well. Wouldn't suit headbangers of course.

As ever, the problem with buying second hand / eBay is that you can't listen extensively before you buy which is the only real way to buy hi-fi.

Shouldn't go wrong with the little Kefs though.

[ashleyk]

It's good to hear another positive bit of feedback on the Leak. I really have no idea what the situation is for a pre-amp. To the best of my knowledge my father just had the Linn or the Arcam plugged straight into the Leak amp but I know he had a Creek amp and tuner so perhaps I've missed something.

Thanks for the speaker suggestion. I've just started a thread (http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?26063-Speaker-suggestions-with-a-Leak-20-valve-amplifier&p=451527#post451527) on that very subject and I'll have to do some research.

[Gordon Steadman]

You would need a pre-amp. I don't know if the Arcam has a variable output but I doubt any phono amp (needed with the record player) would. Otherwise output would be on max all the time - not ideal for ears or speakers:doh:

[ashleyk]

Going back many years ago I remember we had the three sets of speakers. There were the huge Monitor Audios that went through various upgrades and sounded pretty wonderful when married to the Leak. Then we had some much cheaper and smaller Castle Clyde speakers that were wall mounted in the breakfast room that could be politely described as OK while ironing. Finally I had a pair of budget priced JPW speakers linked up to a Rega Planar 3 and a Nytech amp but all of that is long gone.

[ashleyk]

You would need a pre-amp. I don't know if the Arcam has a variable output but I doubt any phono amp (needed with the record player) would. Otherwise output would be on max all the time - not ideal for ears or speakers:doh:

The volume was definitely controllable so I'll have to ask my father how he did it. He's getting on a bit now and struggling to remember anything technical so he may not have much useful information.