Leben CS600 or Almarro a318 for Tannoy TD12?

The Leben will bring you more power, better looks, various flavours and above all a lot of musical pleasure. Tube rolling ( auto bias) the Leben is a lot of fun and a fine way to tune it to your taste. I use the Leben with AN/E's ( 92db) and it has never let me down. Very stable and easy to operate although sometimes I miss a remote.
Almarro sounds great too but the 6c33c tubes need ( much)more care. I like the sound of these tubes very much too but you have to monitor them constantly. Bias can change very quick even when you think all is stable. Depends on quality of tubes too ofcourse.
Both are great amps !!

Hi Mikedimitrov,

I don't have any experience with the Leben, but I've had an Almarro 318A for the past few years -- and I'm embarrassingly fond of it. I find the chassis attractive and the tube complement really terrific; it's well-made, and of course I'm in love with how it sounds: the sweetness of the mids is absolutely charming to me. I've found the 6C33C tubes to be stable, in my case -- haven't had any issues with the bias -- and tube-rolling with the 6sn7 and 6sl7 has been a treat, as the amp seems quite responsive to changes in both.

My speakers are a little under-fed by this sweet little amp, so I miss out on a little bit of coherence and musicality in the lower frequencies -- but overall I'm happy as a clam.

Best of luck as you explore; sounds like you've got two great options on the table.

Betsy

Leben has more power.Today Leben is coming for audition.So I can´t wait till I hear,one more hour.Right now I am auditioning Audio Research SP15 and D400 and it is soo much fun.Now I am reaaly wondering what I wll like better.D400 has 200w to 8ohms so it is very easy to drive my Tannoy TD12 and it brought so much more weight in the bass area.I could not believe it.

Great !
Just do keep in mind that the stock Sovtek 6L6GS are a bit bright with a slight edge to the midrange..although it is highly detailed.
with a Winged C gL6GC the sounds mellows down a quite abit..while with an EL34 it will make the Midrange much more Liquid although you may lose somke tightness in the Bass.

I've had an Almarro 318B (to Zu Driud speakers) for about 5 months and tried a wide assortment of tubes. All are very pleasant. Highly recommend it. I asked a tube dealer to put together a samling of 6SN7 and 6SL7 tubes and I got 9 different tubes for $210. It has been really fun switching out and making notes on the boxes of what I hear.

I listen 6-8 hours a day and so I was concerned about "burning through" tubes but that has not been the case. Just bought a back-up pair of the 6C33C tubes for $48 a pair shipping included from Russia. I was skeptical but they sound better than the old tubes (which may be getting near their end) and look identical. I can do $50 every 6 months.

Biasising has not been an issue at all - I have not had to adjust the new pair during their breaking in - about 50 hours so far. I run them a bit "hot" at 24 as that improved the sound even though they say it wears the tubes out faster -- but at these prices they are the least expensive cost of this hobby for sure.