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Tannoy Everyone?! with Leben CS600 or Pass XA25/30.5?

Wow. 200 hours and the Stirling are sounding really great!

My Leben cs600 seems to run out of juice though - especially on the digital side. The gain from my phonostage leaves some room, but the 2mV output from my DAC not so much.

I'm thinking Pass Labs w/a tube pre and am curious if an XA25 will drive them? Or an XA30.5 might be better? Any experience would be helpful. Gracias, amigos.

budburma
russ69's avatar
russ69
3,519 posts
 

the Tannoy can be more power hungry than their specs might suggest.

This is true and 25 or 30 watts is not a whole bunch of power. It works for me but I seldom play loud. 

cd318
2,636 posts
 

The Leben CS600 runs out of juice?

With the Tannoy Stirlings?

And only with the DAC?

Curious and curiouser.

budburma OP
345 posts
 

@cd318 that's it! I'd be curious if you (or anyone else) might have experienced their DAC not driving their Leben CS600...

lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,547 posts
 

@budburma

Does your DAC have balanced output? If it does, then try a XLR IC with XLR to RCA adapters (for Leben inputs). The typical output level on balanced analog is 6.1Vrms.

pdreher's avatar
pdreher
1,212 posts
 

I hope you don't sell that beautiful Leben only to find your DAC was the limiting factor.  If possible, explore/experiment with other DAC's before switching amps.

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