Leben RS28CX Pre Amplifier

Electrical Disclaimer Description

I’m selling my Leben preamplifier; first, because of ongoing serious hearing problems, and second, to downsize.

It’s a classic high-end item and rarely comes up for sale second-hand. It’s the greatest piece of gear I have ever owned and has never missed a beat; just reliably worked always, bringing continual, ineffable musical pleasure. This kind of component makes you forget everything technical about our hobby--and just enjoy your music.

Around a decade ago I built a valve and vinyl hi-fi system around the Leben and never looked back.

I am the original owner of this preamp, which is a genuine 240V Australian-spec model. It comprises the 2-box design with the multi-pin umbilical cable. The phono tubes are 12AT7 and the line tubes are 6CG7. It has tube rectification. All the valves in use are NOS premium vintage ones.

The front panel of the control chassis has a selector to choose between five RCA inputs (one phono), a tape monitor loop and a balance control.

The back panel includes four RCA line level inputs and one phono input. There is one fixed output and one variable output. The variable output is handy to trim output to a subwoofer or optimize the main output to match amplifier sensitivity and noise to high-sensitivity loudspeakers. It has a removable power cord.

The preamp is from a non-smoking and pet-free home. Some of the external connecting plugs and some screw heads have minor surface tarnishing which doesn’t affect functionality. Note that I cannot find the original boxes so I would have to recommend Pack & Send (or similar) to a successful distant buyer.

I’m also offering ‘your choice’ of two backup pairs of unused NOS valves [one pair 12AT7 (either Mullard, Mazda or GE) + one pair 6CG7 (either Raytheon, Mazda or RCA)—see pics] and 2 very good, hardly used spare rectifier valves. (If you’re extremely keen I could discuss selling all my Leben-relevant valve collection—some dozen pairs).

For Review Lovers

https://6moons.com/audioreviews/leben5/preamp.html

https://www.remusic.it/EN/Leben-RS28CX-preamp-028c5800

The audiophile critic Jeff Day loved the Leben. He said it was:

“... simply the finest preamplifier for music lovers I've ever encountered...The beautifully crafted Leben RS28CX Premium Vacuum Tube Stereo Preamplifier from the design studio of Mr. Taku Hyodo is a music lover’s dream component. Exquisitely voiced, it unfailingly gets the music right regardless of medium. The Leben RS28CX is always musically expressive in the way music is in real life.”

He said this about the phono stage:

“The music flows from the Leben in a completely unfettered and unforced fashion with natural sensual presence. The sound too is very good and I'm amazed that the Leben can be so powerfully emotive while still so good in the sonic sense...There is also a lyrical flow of musical development that's positively spellbinding. It keeps me anticipating with excitement the powerful emotive nature of the unfolding musical drama. The highs are extended, clean and utterly natural. The treble balance is so canny and beautiful that I can't imagine any music lover not being deliriously happy with the Leben RS28CX's phono stage. It is truly a benchmark design for music lovers.“

I have to agree. In my own experience there are different such pieces of gear but none better.