Friday, August 1, 2014

Leak Stereo 30+ (Unit#1 - with speaker output modified)

Like Harold Leak's other transistor amp's, the Stereo 30+ was made to sound like a valve unit.

Front view

Only the speaker connectors were modified by the previous owner. Paint work on the unit gives away it's age. Neither effect the quality of reproduction in any manner or form.
Rear - modified speaker connectors

One PRO is the unit was optimised for PHONO as there are Gain selectors etc on the back of the unit. CON(s)? The RCA connectors on the back are quite close together.

Rated at 15W RMS per channel, it is quite grunty and was able to drive the Mission 753 properly via the QED Silver Anniversary speaker cables. Sounded dull using my usual copper cables. To the fans of the 753, it is well known to be quite a power hungry unit which requires a high current amp to obtain the best from it.

This little gem was made to high standards as the quality of the components are superb - still the original parts!!! Upon a glance, the internals look pretty alike that of the Delta 30. Inspecting the circuit diagram on the internet shows very minor differences.

The Stereo 30+ does shine when connected to easier to drive speakers eg the Meridian A500's. So much so a visitor who came to buy my Musical Fidelity X10D was mesmerised by it's quality of reproduction - he thought it was a tube amp. Quite a complement coming from a tube amp owner. Speaks volumes of the Stereo 30+!!

When doing a brief search on the internet, notice many of the Leak Stereo-series are popular in Europe for driving the high-end dual-concentric Tannoy's.