System Upgrade

But the moment you challenge it - Choirs, organ music...dial halfway and it is struggling. I think, per earlier posts, power/drive is lacking. 

Unfortunately. 

Whoa. When you changed the selector switches, were they incorrectly set for the specific tube type installed? The switches should be set for the specific output tube only. Did you buy your Leben new?

Take the Leben with you to your Harbeth dealer and drop it into their system and see what you hear. Its also a good practice to be able to compare against other amp offerings the dealer may have so you can get a proper match to your desired speakers. Obviously something isnt meshing, how unfortunate. Best of luck on getting what you are after.

Just sounds like the preamp has lower output to drive your amps at lower volume settings.  No biggie but if you come across another preamp to try out then can see if there is any sound improvement.

Thank you. It was set correctly. I was just experimenting with other settings. I bought the Leben second hand. Will speak to my Harbeth dealer. Thanks again. 

@mdmdwyer



Now we may be getting somewhere. Which tubes are installed? Do you know how many hours/how old they are? Do you have a spare set of the 6cs7’s input tubes or el34/5881/6l6 power tubes?

When you are playing the amp with the harbeths does it sound great up to half volume and then flatten out or does it sound flat all through the volume range? Are you running your dac gain full or is it backed off? Just a stretch but maybe the input is overloaded. I dont know anything about the output voltage of the psaudio.

Something you might consider is plugging your dac into the amp direct rca jacks. Those inputs bypass the pre section and the volume control is active in order to match gain appropriately with the source. BEFORE doing so be certain you have turned the volume on you psaudio waaaay down.

isnt this hobby a blast? LOL. Hang in there, troubleshooting will either be a learning experience or a confirmation. Both will serve you well in the future, regardless of the equipment you have now.. or then. Peace.