Leak 30 amp?

[falcoron]

Just bought a Leak 30 ( waiting for it to arrive)

bought it for the hell of it really and would like to start a wee collection of vintage stuff just for the interest and winter projects etc.

Know diddly squat about anything vintage but bought a Leak lenco Turntable and modernised it with a solid wooden plinth and linn arm, not very inkeeping with vintage stuff or collecting i know, but it is really superb! Im loving it and buying vinyl again is great fun, especially if im getting them for peanuts.

Anyone on here have a good knowledge of these amps? Would love some advice if you dont mind or some required reading suggestions

Im going to eventually put together a really cheap vintage system with an old original lenco (or similar) with this amp and then find some compatable speakers ( suggestions please)

just to compare with my system to see how much has changed over the years.

Heard Macvisuals old quad valve amps through his Old quad panels and it was fantastic. so a similar project now beacons. Although i dont have the room for electrostatics

Thanks

Ron

[SergeAuckland]

falcoron wrote:

Just bought a Leak 30 ( waiting for it to arrive)

bought it for the hell of it really and would like to start a wee collection of vintage stuff just for the interest and winter projects etc.

Know diddly squat about anything vintage but bought a Leak lenco Turntable and modernised it with a solid wooden plinth and linn arm, not very inkeeping with vintage stuff or collecting i know, but it is really superb! Im loving it and buying vinyl again is great fun, especially if im getting them for peanuts.

Anyone on here have a good knowledge of these amps? Would love some advice if you dont mind or some required reading suggestions

Im going to eventually put together a really cheap vintage system with an old original lenco (or similar) with this amp and then find some compatable speakers ( suggestions please)

just to compare with my system to see how much has changed over the years.

Heard Macvisuals old quad valve amps through his Old quad panels and it was fantastic. so a similar project now beacons. Although i dont have the room for electrostatics

Thanks

Ron

I have Leak Delta 30 which has the same circuit as the Leak Stereo 30, and I have the original User Manual for it. I don't know what specific questions you have, andI don't know of any reading material specifically on the Stereo 30, but if you need specific answers, please post or PM me. I also have theGL75 turntable, so ditto on that one. I can copy manuals, or send you links for downloads if available.

As to loudspeakers, the classic combination would be Leak's own Sandwich or Mini-Sandwich. Alternatively, Spendor BC1, KEF Concerto (The original large three-way) TannoyLancaster or QUAD ESL. Early B&W and Celestion Dittons would also be in keeping. You say you don't have room for the ESLs, but some of the above are fairly large and need to be kept away from the walls, so maybe the smaller Celestions or the Leak Mini-Sandwich might be a better choice.

Fun project.

S.

[Hornucopia]

Agree with M.Serge about speaker choices. But add Snell Es/Ks to that list (I just posted info on a K set in Maidstone on eBay) though most of the choices need collection. The older speakers, though often claiming to be "Bookshelf speakers" , weighed a lot, so shipping is not usually an option. My original Sandwiches run from a Hafler set up. The 8 ohm versions would suit the 30 amp better than the 15 ohm version I guess. The original two speaker one is supposedly better than the later 600 version with 3 units




(To you iPod generation, A book was a collection of print on paper bound together with a cover, about the size of d/a convertor box. People collected them to read -though why? as they never RE-read them!- and had them displayed like trophies on shelves. LPs were also collected like this, before it was possible to store your entire collection in an iPod; see pic!))

[Hornucopia]

You could look for Leak 2070s/3075/3090s too if you want to be flash! They are rare though as no one could afford them, like Snell As!!

[diceman]

I had a pair of the Leak Mini-sandwich many years ago (which strangely I picked up with a Leak Stereo 30 and Goldring Lenco GL75). The phono stage was not bad I remember.

IMHO the mini-sandwich was terrible. Compared against B&W DM610s and old wharfedale teak speakers (can't remember teh name sorry).

The amp was not bad sounding, quite airey but not much bass or drive IIRC.

Installation manual for stereo 30 can be found here:- http://www.valve-radio.co.uk/radio_l...stereo30wm.pdf

Power output = 10 watts in to a 15 ohm load and 15 watts in to a 4 ohm load.

Maybe look for some celestion ditton 15s? I still quite enjoy the big & ballsy sound of my Ditton 25s when I occasionally plug them in.

[falcoron]

Thanks guy's,
as usual loads to get on with. Dont really have a specific question but as soon as it arrives im sure i will.
The speaker terminals are odd if i remember reading correctly a while back, Are these 4 and 3 mm for each speaker?
What do i do in this case, are these terminations available?

[Hornucopia]

falcoron wrote:

Thanks guy's,
as usual loads to get on with. Dont really have a specific question but as soon as it arrives im sure i will.
The speaker terminals are odd if i remember reading correctly a while back, Are these 4 and 3 mm for each speaker?
What do i do in this case, are these terminations available?

Yes. they have a push-on connectors with (as you say) two different size 'tubes' to keep polarity correct, I guess. Should come with the speakers (or eBay search!)
In 70s my Dad was advised to get the two unit original Sandwich, rather than the (then newly issued) 600 .....
They have been cheap for years, but I notice that they're getting dearer!

[Leonard Smalls]

I had a stereo 30 for years as well..
Nice little amp, and it happily drove Richard Allen RA1s, Kef Cadenza, Kef Concerto and Kef Chorales - though it wasn't quite so happy with Gale 301 or 401s..
As for bass output, OK, but I did supplement it with a 300+300w Marshall bass amp into 2x15" EVs!

[SergeAuckland]

falcoron wrote:

Thanks guy's,
as usual loads to get on with. Dont really have a specific question but as soon as it arrives im sure i will.
The speaker terminals are odd if i remember reading correctly a while back, Are these 4 and 3 mm for each speaker?
What do i do in this case, are these terminations available?

The later Delta 30 was fitted with DIN 'speaker sockets rather than the polarised two pin mentioned. I don't know whether all Stereo 30s were like that, or whether the later ones went to DINs. You'll know soon enough.

DINs are still commonly available, the others are rather rarer, but as Hornucopia said, Ebay is a possibility. You could always use apair of standard 4mm plugs, andfile one down if you're stuck. You may also need to saw then both down, as a standard 4mm plug may protrude too far into the amp, but you'll only need to do it once!

S.

[Beobloke]

Hornucopia wrote:

You could look for Leak 2070s/3075/3090s too if you want to be flash! They are rare though as no one could afford them, like Snell As!!

Er, good call in speaker terms but having owned botha pair of 2075s and a Stereo 30, I can assure you that the latter will probably melt if asked to drive the former for too long!

Great little amp, though. All you'll hear said about it is how it's rubbish compared to their earlier valve amps, and whislt it's certainly not as good, it's a nice little unit in its own right and can be bought very cheaply. (the same is true of the Troughline/Stereofetic tuners IMHO). Oh, yes, and you'll need a Stereofetic tuner to go with it, obviously!

Finally, now we've set you off on the road to vintage electronics, may I recommend Armstrong for your next purchase? Very under-rated items IMHO.

[falcoron]

Thanks again,
Great, keep it coming!!
Ive had a hankering for the ditton 15's and like the look of them. Any idea what these go for second hand?
None about that i can see, Ditton 9's on E bay but never heard of these

[stefanher]

I'd really try to go for the BC1's- they're fairly plentiful & not that huge. A speaker I would have loved to have heard was the other high end "favourite" of the 70's- the Rogers floor standing BBC monitor- anyone ever heard these? I think they were also called the LS 5/8's.

[mrwippy]

Beobloke wrote:

Finally, now we've set you off on the road to vintage electronics, may I recommend Armstrong for your next purchase? Very under-rated items IMHO.

Oh, that reminds me I've got this collecting dust at the moment - looks great from the outside, but a bit different if you look inside - not too sure why Armstrong would be a good choice - unless you intend to restrict that choice to perhaps their power amps? Did you have specific models in mind?









quite a bit of work to do here!
Edit to add: I feel these amps are the idea candidates to match with those single driver DIY projects

[falcoron]

Im sure i'll find out soon enough but how does the insides compare to the Leak?

[mrwippy]

falcoron wrote:

Im sure i'll find out soon enough but how does the insides compare to the Leak?

Well the leak 30 is a transistor amp so really a different beast all together - IIRC the last amp from Leak when Harold Leak was the main man, and some consider them to be very good I can't comment as I've never heard any of the 'newer' Leak amps

The pic's above were just really to show the difference between the outside and what's under the skin. Whilst I would have no issues about having a go at a Leak valve power amp not too sure about the stereo 30 - again from my rather poor memory weren't these blessed with mother/daughter boards which used to come loose and was a problem with the design? oh and don't forget the original speaker terminals use two differing size plugs '+ve' is the smaller of the two - this aspect is something similar on my old tube Armstrong!!

[Hornucopia]

SergeAuckland wrote:

falcoron wrote:

Thanks guy's,
as usual loads to get on with. Dont really have a specific question but as soon as it arrives im sure i will.
The speaker terminals are odd if i remember reading correctly a while back, Are these 4 and 3 mm for each speaker?
What do i do in this case, are these terminations available?

The later Delta 30 was fitted with DIN 'speaker sockets rather than the polarised two pin mentioned. I don't know whether all Stereo 30s were like that, or whether the later ones went to DINs. You'll know soon enough.

DINs are still commonly available, the others are rather rarer, but as Hornucopia said, Ebay is a possibility. You could always use aÂ*pair of standard 4mm plugs, andÂ*file one down if you're stuck. You may also need to saw then both down, as a standard 4mm plug may protrude too far into the amp, but you'll only need to do it once!

S.Â*

Yes. DIN was the AMP end. The 'polarised' ones are on the Speaker itself!

[gjm]

falcoron wrote:

Im sure i'll find out soon enough but how does the insides compare to the Leak?

Here you go - apologies for the camera shake! Hand-holding 1/15s...





This was my father's amp for a number of years. One of the tape inputs - can't remember if it was amp or head - was converted for use with a CD player.

[mrwippy]

gjm wrote:

falcoron wrote:

Im sure i'll find out soon enough but how does the insides compare to the Leak?

Here you go - apologies for the camera shake! Hand-holding 1/15s...





This was my father's amp for a number of years. One of the tape inputs - can't remember if it was amp or head - was converted for use with a CD player.

Well that'sdifferent from what I was thinking of, so can I assume the one I saw was a 'plus'?

[falcoron]

God they look really complicated devices to use with gain switches and the likes!
I take it the pick up plugs are for the phono

[macvisual]

Hey falcoron,


Is the Leak Delta 30 a solid state or valve amp? I agree withabove comments that a pair of Spendor BC1's would be a fantastic combination!! My eldest brother had a pair of Spendor BC1'saround the mid 1970'sand I still have great memories of their totally lushsound, just FAB.

By the way, I've recentlyslipped the original Quad II's back into my hi-fi set up with lovely audible results in combination with the new valve DAC, truely wonderful! You'se must get down....




Regards - pete