Leben Owners: which speakers do you use?

I'm just coming back from Montreal's SSI 2011 hifi show. One of the best sound of the show, for my taste, was Devore's new Orangutan 0/96 paired with a nice Leben CS300, a Brinkmann's Bardo turntable and the Leben phono stage.

This was a perfect match!

As I am an owner of Harbeth's speakers and pretty active on Harbeth User Group, I know that many Harbeth users amplified them with Leben. The main market for Harbeth is in the far East, same as Leben.

I owned both the Leben CS600 and now the CS300 and prefer the latter powering my Living Voice OBX-RW speakers. The upbeat spirited nature of the CS300 created a better synergy with the agility and even tonal balance of the Living Voice. The CS300's 12 watts power was not a issue at all in my medium size room. In comparison, the CS600 (32w) had more than enough power but was a little slow in momentum for my taste. I haven't heard the Devore Nines but from what I understand from the many reviews and comments the Living Voice with its greater sensitivity (94db) should provide a smoother but just as natural and refined presentation.

When I auditioned the DeVore Super 8's and Leben integrateds, I preferred it paired with the CS600. I found the CS300 a bit too energetic (harsh) to my ears. I really like the Winged C 6L6GC tubes with these DeVores. I'm happy with the results. I've read that your Nines are very good with the Leben CS300. Best of luck in your search.

I'd love to hear the Orangutans, and the Living Voice too. Interesting what you say, Glenalan and Randyk, about the 600 versus the 300, and the Nines v. the 8s. I heard the 300XS with the Super8s and some Dynaudios. Can't remember exactly what I thought of the Dynaudios versus the Super8s, but I wound up liking the Super8s better... And then I tried the Nines and it just sounded right. I don't like to listen very loud, and bass isn't so important to me, so it was something else about the Nines. For what it's worth, I also brought along a Rowland SS amp and hooked that up to the Nines, with a Shindo Aurieges on top. It sounded beautiful-crystalline, shimmering-- and the soundstage, imaging etc was superior to the Lebens, but after listening for a couple hours back and forth I decided that for me, the Leben was preferable.