View Full Version : FS: Lentek Head Amp
Works perfectly. All it needs is a PP3 battery and away you go. Complete with original box and instruction booklet. Here's a review. http://www.saturn-sound.com/images%20-%20reviews/review%20-%20lentek%20amp%27%20-%20pract%27%20hi-fi%20&%20audio%20-%20nov%201977.jpg
and some photos
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m262/mumblescuddles/DSCF9698_zpsoz76otek.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/mumblescuddles/media/DSCF9698_zpsoz76otek.jpg.html)
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m262/mumblescuddles/DSCF9699_zps8pjcfy74.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/mumblescuddles/media/DSCF9699_zps8pjcfy74.jpg.html)
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m262/mumblescuddles/DSCF9700_zps0lafcgpb.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/mumblescuddles/media/DSCF9700_zps0lafcgpb.jpg.html)
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m262/mumblescuddles/DSCF9701_zpsd9z6hnw9.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/mumblescuddles/media/DSCF9701_zpsd9z6hnw9.jpg.html)
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m262/mumblescuddles/DSCF9703_zpszwccjnhk.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/mumblescuddles/media/DSCF9703_zpszwccjnhk.jpg.html)
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m262/mumblescuddles/DSCF9705_zpsrrwhby2j.jpg (http://s106.photobucket.com/user/mumblescuddles/media/DSCF9705_zpsrrwhby2j.jpg.html)
From a pet free and non smoking home. £60 inc postage.UK only. Thanks for looking
Simon
I'll take this, Simon, for a little project I'm considering. PM me how you'd like paying :)
Marco.
Marco was in like Flynn ;). Sorry Grant.
I could have been quicker... But someone came to door as i was about to take it... I know what he is likely to do with it first though lol;) never mind Good sale for you Simon and the cart too.
Lol... Sorry about that, matey! Hope it was someone shexy at the door :eyebrows:
Marco.
Arkless Electronics
16-02-2016, 17:10
I wonder if there would be much interest in an el cheapo head amp? Something built down to a price and designed to easily beat the likes of the little bear thing but not set the world on fire... maybe £150 ish and plastic case, no gold plated sockets, wall wart supply etc hmmm... Thoughts guys?
Alas not...some po faced tosser wanting to do my garden
Firebottle
16-02-2016, 17:30
I wonder if there would be much interest in an el cheapo head amp? Something built down to a price and designed to easily beat the likes of the little bear thing but not set the world on fire... maybe £150 ish and plastic case, no gold plated sockets, wall wart supply etc hmmm... Thoughts guys?
I would think so Jez, with the speed these Lentek's sell at.
I shall be working along the same lines shortly, but hope for better than 'not set the world on fire' performance.
9V battery operation is the way to go I think. :D
Sure if it looked ok and worked nicely then it would do well... The Chinese cheapie at £20 is quite good sounding actually...very surprising although does hum a bit; or mine does. Still for a score its very handy backup. I guess if it was good it will sell
Arkless Electronics
16-02-2016, 18:01
I would think so Jez, with the speed these Lentek's sell at.
I shall be working along the same lines shortly, but hope for better than 'not set the world on fire' performance.
9V battery operation is the way to go I think. :D
By "not set the world on fire performance" I still mean very good indeed. Just obviously at £150 it won't be intended to be an ultimate reference. Definitely mains powered for mine. You'll probably get more sales with battery power though 'cos the proles will think "battery power beats wallwart" (this is apparently a "fact" amongst those who read too many hi fi mags and know little about electronics... as are many other "facts" :eek: )
Anyhow, whilst I'm more than happy to compete with anyone at any price on sound quality I can't match you on styling/finish V price so you'll probably have the market to yourself....
I've started a thread asking about interest levels on such a thing in my trade bit.
probably fair better not calling folk proles too;)
Arkless Electronics
16-02-2016, 18:31
Just banter Grant... no offence meant by it ;)
337alant
17-02-2016, 23:51
The little lentek is a great head amp I used one for years with a PS Audo MM phone stage :eyebrows:
It sounded very good recently with the cheap Chinese MM stage
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8131/8757411349_7d5003ae9f_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/ekS2hR). (https://flic.kr/p/ekS2hR) by Alan Towell (https://www.flickr.com/photos/69508926@N05/), on Flickr
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8250/8662772119_115f053802_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/ecuYkZ)118 (https://flic.kr/p/ecuYkZ) by Alan Towell (https://www.flickr.com/photos/69508926@N05/), on Flickr
Alan
Hi Alan,
Indeed - it's a remarkably simple little device that just works! :)
Is yours stock, or have you modified it in any way?
Marco.
337alant
18-02-2016, 00:20
Mine is just stock marko as mine is a potted block so not easy the do any mods.
ts in bits at the moment Marco I fitted it inside that MM phono stage with a Lypo battery, it sounded great but had a hum from the transformer which I could not get rid of in that small case.
Just never got round to putting it back together but I will with new leads and plugs, eventually :D
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5458/9294345514_67d06f0104_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/faiX7s). (https://flic.kr/p/faiX7s) by Alan Towell (https://www.flickr.com/photos/69508926@N05/), on Flickr
Alan
Interesting, Alan. Yeah, the potting is a pain in the arse, but you can get round it with a bit of effort - and if modded correctly, the results are well worth it ;)
One thing I love about the Lentek is that it's got bags of 'balls' and real 'get up and go', which makes music fun to listen to. It also delivers oodles of gain (28db), which when partnered with the right cartridges, I believe contributes to its rather 'punchy' and energetic sonic presentation, and as such can make some SUTs, in particular, sound somewhat limp and 'weedy' in comparison.
However, you have to ensure that you only use it when the battery is at or near its full capacity, as the sound deteriorates rapidly once it becomes flat. Also, rather bizarrely, some batteries sound better than others! Duracells are best :)
Marco.
Firebottle
18-02-2016, 07:49
Alan try mounting the Lentek board the other way around with the shortest possible input leads :thumbsup:
The Lentek arrived today, very well packed. It's the cleanest one I think I've ever seen...
Looks almost like new, and even in stock form (with a 9V Duracell battery fitted), is sounding superb, with my vintage Denon DL-103C1 at the helm, through the valve MM phono stage of the Croft. Well pleased!
Cheers, Simon :thumbsup:
Marco.
Firebottle
19-02-2016, 14:43
How close does it get to your Paul Hynes head amp Marco?
Hi Alan,
Too early to say, mate, as I've just literally plugged it in. However, it's certainly delivering all the 'balls' and fun-factor I remember from these units, when partnered with a DL-103, especially playing 80s 12" singles! :eyebrows:
Marco.
Arkless Electronics
19-02-2016, 15:12
Don't worry Grant you'll be able to buy a better one from me very soon :eyebrows:
Indeed... And anyway, you don't even have a DL-103! :eyebrows:
Marco.
Arkless Electronics
19-02-2016, 17:22
Indeed... And anyway, you don't even have a DL-103! :eyebrows:
Marco.
Nor would I want one :eyebrows:
Trust me, I'll make you eat those words at the next NEBO! ;)
Marco.
Arkless Electronics
19-02-2016, 18:25
I've heard them several times and ain't impressed. Too smooth and lacking detail as will be any cart using a spherical stylus. Yeah they sound "nice", "punchy" etc but not accurate. We seem to have exact opposite tastes in cartridges as I would avoid anything by Shure by a mile, not keen on DL-103 etc but love high end (ish) Audio Technica and Ortofon MC's. There's no such thing as too much detail in my book... if it's on the recording I want to hear it! :)
walpurgis
19-02-2016, 18:28
Too smooth and lacking detail as will be any cart using a spherical stylus.
Decca London? Certainly no lack of detail there. :D
Agreed - no lack of detail with the EMT TSD 15 either, or the Ortofon SPU.
Arkless Electronics
19-02-2016, 18:35
All carts I don't like!
I've heard them several times and ain't impressed. Too smooth and lacking detail as will be any cart using a spherical stylus. Yeah they sound "nice", "punchy" etc but not accurate. We seem to have exact opposite tastes in cartridges as I would avoid anything by Shure by a mile, not keen on DL-103 etc but love high end (ish) Audio Technica and Ortofon MC's. There's no such thing as too much detail in my book... if it's on the recording I want to hear it! :)
Lol... Jez, you suffer from too much 'tunnel vision', mate, and are blinkered by what you've learned from books. "Too smooth and lacking in detail" is the *polar opposite* of how any 103 I use sounds on my T/T and system. If you've heard it like that, then quite clearly, it was the fault of the system (or T/T) concerned, not the cartridge.
There's really no point in debating the matter with you here, because your mind's made up. I'll simply demonstrate my point to you, very vividly, at NEBO ;)
Marco.
walpurgis
19-02-2016, 18:53
"Too smooth and lacking in detail" is the *polar opposite* of how any 103 I use sounds on my T/T and system. If you've heard it like that, then quite clearly, it was the fault of the system (or T/T) concerned, not the cartridge.
Marco.
Probably down to the choice of interconnects. ;)
All carts I don't like!
So what are you going to feed your head amp with?
Probably down to the choice of interconnects. ;)
:lolsign:
Aye, that'll be it!
Marco.
Arkless Electronics
19-02-2016, 19:13
You couldn't be more wrong Marco. We just have very different tastes in hi fi I guess. E.G I don't like Tannoy speakers but you love em!
My taste in hi fi, if put in terms of a system, would be along the lines of:
T.T: Rock, top Roksan or PT Anniversary
Arm: SME 4 or 5 or similar
Cart: Ortofon Rohmann, Audio Technica Art 1 etc.
Amps: Guess I can't name my own for this so Audio Research pre and Krell power.
Speakers: Quad ESL, ML ESL's, Spendor, Harbeth, KEF Reference series or B+W 801 or above.
It all majors on low colouration, transparency and detail retrieval combined with grip but all with finesse.
"Musicality", "playing tunes", "warmth", "romance", "having balls", "pizazz" nah not on my radar.
I guess we read from different hymn books ;)
Arkless Electronics
19-02-2016, 19:20
So what are you going to feed your head amp with?
Firstly I won't personally be using one as I prefer a phono stage with MC input. I'll be using Technics EPC-300MC and/or Ortofon MC20 Super. Based on what I have and that I'm permanently skint. Both good carts though.
walpurgis
19-02-2016, 19:39
I'll be using Technics EPC-300MC
Very nice MC Jez. I've used one a friend owned and compared it to the EPC-305MC I owned at the time. I couldn't really hear much difference between them.
Strange you don't like Deccas. My Decca Export Grey had a very similar presentation and balance to the Technics.
Arkless Electronics
19-02-2016, 19:45
Very nice MC Jez. I've used one a friend owned and compared it to the EPC-305MC I owned at the time. I couldn't really hear much difference between them.
Strange you don't like Deccas. My Decca Export Grey had a very similar presentation and balance to the Technics.
I don't like mistracking and they are renowned for it... The sound is good until they let go.
You couldn't be more wrong Marco. We just have very different tastes in hi fi I guess. E.G I don't like Tannoy speakers but you love em!
My taste in hi fi, if put in terms of a system, would be along the lines of:
T.T: Rock, top Roksan or PT Anniversary
Arm: SME 4 or 5 or similar
Cart: Ortofon Rohmann, Audio Technica Art 1 etc.
Amps: Guess I can't name my own for this so Audio Research pre and Krell power.
Speakers: Quad ESL, ML ESL's, Spendor, Harbeth, KEF Reference series or B+W 801 or above.
It all majors on low colouration, transparency and detail retrieval combined with grip but all with finesse.
"Musicality", "playing tunes", "warmth", "romance", "having balls", "pizazz" nah not on my radar.
I guess we read from different hymn books...
Nope, I honestly don't think that's the case at all, Jez.
What I think is happening is that you have rather stubborn preconceptions of how certain equipment sounds, based on the context in which you last (or perhaps always have) heard it, and thus consider it automatically sounds 'that way' everywhere else.... ;)
Where, in fact, in my system said equipment sounds *very* different from what you describe, possibly because I've made a better job of getting it to work optimally together, than the person said equipment belonged to where you heard it sound "smooth and lacking in detail", or whatever.
Otherwise, ask yourself this: why did I really like that head amp of yours, which you sent me last year, if we have very different tastes in hi-fi, and if I'm supposedly into "warmth", "romance", etc? Because if that were true, given how your kit is the complete opposite of that, and 'accurate', I should've hated it!!! :eyebrows: ;)
No, what's happening here is simply a question of perceptions - and the only way to sort that out is to haul your ass down here (or if you're willing to ride down on your bike), and sit you down in front of my system, and let you experience the kind of sound I enjoy, from all this equipment you supposedly hate.
And here's the deal.... If you think, after listening to it, that it's all the things you thought it was, I'll donate £100 to Cancer Research - but if you don't, and it sounds rather different from how you imagined, then you come on here and tell everyone how wrong you were!
Deal? :cool:
Marco.
Arkless Electronics
19-02-2016, 20:36
Nope, I honestly don't think that's the case at all, Jez.
What I think is happening is that you have rather stubborn preconceptions of how certain equipment sounds, based on the context in which you last heard it, and thus consider it automatically sounds 'that way' everywhere else.... ;)
Where, in fact, in my system said equipment sounds *very* different from what you describe, possibly because I've made a better job of getting it to work optimally together, than the person said equipment belonged to where you heard it sound "smooth and lacking in detail", or whatever.
Otherwise, ask yourself this: why did I really like that head amp of yours, which you sent me last year, if we have very different tastes in hi-fi, and if I'm supposedly into "warmth", "romance", etc? Because if that were true, given how your kit is the complete opposite of that, and 'accurate', I should've hated it!!! :eyebrows: ;)
No, what's happening here is simply a question of perceptions - and the only way to sort that out is to haul your ass down here (or if you're willing to ride down on your bike), and sit you down in front of my system, and let you experience the kind of sound I enjoy, from all this equipment you supposedly hate.
And here's the deal.... If you think, after listening to it, that it's all the things you thought it was, I'll donate £100 to Cancer Research - but if you don't, and it sounds rather different from how you imagined, then you come on here and tell everyone how wrong you were!
Deal? :cool:
Marco.
One has to make generalisations for there to be such a discussion ;) Tannoys can certainly impress but the ones I've heard have too much colouration for me for example.
The gear I design is intended for neutrality, low distortion and wide FR. Nothing gets past the drawing board stage if it has more than 0.1% THD (and will usually be rejected at half that). I go for around 1Hz - 100KHz+ on frequency response. This degree of accuracy in one item is not going to change the sound of a whole system designed around a certain sound.... It's difficult to make a coloured head amp anyway! Not so with SUT's....
I can't imagine I'll ever get to visit you Marco... when I say skint I mean skint!! Postage on gear going to AOS members on approval or for trial has cost me about £40 the last few days and left me with £15 to my name in all the world... this is normal for me (buy some of my products folks!!!). If I can't pay £30 poll tax arrears by Tuesday I go to jail. Yes really. Just affording the petrol to your gaff and back is an unimaginable luxury to me unfortunately.
Why don't I jack it in and get a proper job in electronics R+D? 'Cos being at the beck and call of a boss, combined with office politics, is worse still in my book ;)
I don't like mistracking and they are renowned for it... The sound is good until they let go.
None of my Decca cartridges have ever mistracked - but that's because I have taken the most enormous care and trouble with their installation and set up. Deccas are a law unto themselves; the usual rules for cartridge installation don't necessarily apply to Decca cartridges.
I honestly don't think it would matter, Jez, whether you sent me a head amp, phono stage or a full amplifier. I'm sure that I'd like it all, because we are essentially after the same thing, albeit via a different route - and that's only because we *think* very differently!
That's where the real differences between us lie, not in our respective tastes in hi-fi, or how we consider recorded music should be reproduced.
Anyway, I'll gladly pay for your return fuel costs to Wrexham (as it would be worth it, on both a social and 'hi-fi experimental' level), so do we have a deal, for say, sometime in April? :cool:
Marco.
Firstly I won't personally be using one as I prefer a phono stage with MC input. I'll be using Technics EPC-300MC and/or Ortofon MC20 Super. Based on what I have and that I'm permanently skint. Both good carts though.
I used to use an Ortofon MC20 - didn't keep it for long as I found it 'uninvolving' and traded it in for an MC25FL.
I too would prefer a phono stage; especially if it uses passive equalisation. When I get to hear your prototype design, if I like it would you consider adding additional circuitry to make it a phonostage?
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