Hey there.
I have a Leak 50 stereo that I had originally intended to use for the transformers in a stereo amplification system for an instrument/line level.
I removed the transformers to test them. Both output transform coils all are intact and gave dead on values when I performed an ac voltage inputting test and did the math for impedance ratio to validate that the taps were what they supposed to be - both transformers 4, 8 and 16 ohm taps with a primary impedance of 7,000 ohms. The power supply also measured predictable voltages across its coils - HV, 6.3V and 5V. Of course, they measured a little higher due to the no load condition on the PT.
A poster responded to my thread on this amp with the comment that this amp could be very valuable to someone who was passionate about restoring rare vintage amps, and that I would be equally or better found in using say, the Dynaco replacement transformers as found at Triode Electronics.
After some thought (and a little guilt) I decided that perhaps this would be the way to go. Maybe myself and who ever go their hands on this amp would be much better off in their venture instead of raping a rare vintage amp for its transformers. Don't get me wrong, I was very excited to use the trannies for my next project but, would probably do fine or better with something like the Dynaco replacements.
So, if you are interested, feel free to contact me, you can even call and we could facetime - I could show you the amp and transformers as they are and perform any testing that gives you confidence in the tranny functionality.
Thanks for coming by,
Best,
Philip Donovan
617-470-9821
donovanphillyboy@aol.com
I have a Leak 50 stereo that I had originally intended to use for the transformers in a stereo amplification system for an instrument/line level.
I removed the transformers to test them. Both output transform coils all are intact and gave dead on values when I performed an ac voltage inputting test and did the math for impedance ratio to validate that the taps were what they supposed to be - both transformers 4, 8 and 16 ohm taps with a primary impedance of 7,000 ohms. The power supply also measured predictable voltages across its coils - HV, 6.3V and 5V. Of course, they measured a little higher due to the no load condition on the PT.
A poster responded to my thread on this amp with the comment that this amp could be very valuable to someone who was passionate about restoring rare vintage amps, and that I would be equally or better found in using say, the Dynaco replacement transformers as found at Triode Electronics.
After some thought (and a little guilt) I decided that perhaps this would be the way to go. Maybe myself and who ever go their hands on this amp would be much better off in their venture instead of raping a rare vintage amp for its transformers. Don't get me wrong, I was very excited to use the trannies for my next project but, would probably do fine or better with something like the Dynaco replacements.
So, if you are interested, feel free to contact me, you can even call and we could facetime - I could show you the amp and transformers as they are and perform any testing that gives you confidence in the tranny functionality.
Thanks for coming by,
Best,
Philip Donovan
617-470-9821
donovanphillyboy@aol.com
What about restoring it yourself and then have a true vintage legend in perfect condition?
I see it has a certain value .... and a certain appeal... Some things are sold and afterwards one regrets it....
Leak Stereo 50 vintage tube power amplifier upgraded Black Gate, Mullard & more! | eBay
I see it has a certain value .... and a certain appeal... Some things are sold and afterwards one regrets it....
Leak Stereo 50 vintage tube power amplifier upgraded Black Gate, Mullard & more! | eBay
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Leak stereo 50
Why don't I restore it myself.
That has certainly crossed my mind but things have to stop somewhere.
I have so, so many projects for my instrument performances in queue that its overwhelming to even think of taking on another one. Value is where you find it, and I bet there is someone out there that would value having this more than I would, and would appreciate it more than I would. Dont get me wrong, I love vintage prizes. All my guitar amps have nothing but NOS tubes and I've been staring at vintage amp schematics constantly lately. Well, the story is not over yet but, my next project is calling for a UL set of stereo transformers and this amp fell right into my hands out of no where. Yup. Like magic. When you are still an active Dad and have a handful of dependents there isn't extra money for the things you want to build. So, this amp seemed like a perfect opportunity to get me to the next project either by using the transformers that come with the amp, or, selling it to someone who sees a different future for it, and perhaps a more rightful future for it.
Best and thanks for stopping by,
Phil Donovan
Why don't I restore it myself.
That has certainly crossed my mind but things have to stop somewhere.
I have so, so many projects for my instrument performances in queue that its overwhelming to even think of taking on another one. Value is where you find it, and I bet there is someone out there that would value having this more than I would, and would appreciate it more than I would. Dont get me wrong, I love vintage prizes. All my guitar amps have nothing but NOS tubes and I've been staring at vintage amp schematics constantly lately. Well, the story is not over yet but, my next project is calling for a UL set of stereo transformers and this amp fell right into my hands out of no where. Yup. Like magic. When you are still an active Dad and have a handful of dependents there isn't extra money for the things you want to build. So, this amp seemed like a perfect opportunity to get me to the next project either by using the transformers that come with the amp, or, selling it to someone who sees a different future for it, and perhaps a more rightful future for it.
Best and thanks for stopping by,
Phil Donovan
Decide on the price you want, and don't negotiate. There are always those who will buy
just to resell at a profit. These amps are rare and in good condition.
And thanks for doing the right thing.
just to resell at a profit. These amps are rare and in good condition.
And thanks for doing the right thing.
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With profit from the sale you should be able to buy a better pair of transformers than those from Leak amp. If you have too many projects already buy used working amp either from DIY folk or factory made. Buying and selling is a part of the hobby.
I'm with the camp that someday you might regret selling this.
I have a Leak Stereo 50 that has to be the ugliest one on the planet. When I got it someone had already started working on it and painted the entire amp black with spray paint! The tag boards are still there but various mods have been done and not to carefully thought out I might add. Price was right and the seller had taken measurements of the transformers to check them already. He purchased it in this condition.
Someday I will probably part with it, or maybe not. But I have fully restored McIntosh MC40 monoblocks here already that I use so I'm not overly excited to do anything at the moment. But if I didn't have my Macs............
BillWojo
I have a Leak Stereo 50 that has to be the ugliest one on the planet. When I got it someone had already started working on it and painted the entire amp black with spray paint! The tag boards are still there but various mods have been done and not to carefully thought out I might add. Price was right and the seller had taken measurements of the transformers to check them already. He purchased it in this condition.
Someday I will probably part with it, or maybe not. But I have fully restored McIntosh MC40 monoblocks here already that I use so I'm not overly excited to do anything at the moment. But if I didn't have my Macs............
BillWojo
Leak stereo 50
I will mull this over a little while longer but yes, If were able to get enough money to spring for the ST70 bundle or, the PT but with a pair of the 60-120 watt output transformers, that may be a satisfying deal from my end.
But, I will contemplate the prospect of regretting selling it. It already is a painful notion and has been. My other concern was frying one of the transformers while during the design/tweak process of the next project for which I had originally intended this for.
Thanks for the ideas,
Best,
Phil
I will mull this over a little while longer but yes, If were able to get enough money to spring for the ST70 bundle or, the PT but with a pair of the 60-120 watt output transformers, that may be a satisfying deal from my end.
But, I will contemplate the prospect of regretting selling it. It already is a painful notion and has been. My other concern was frying one of the transformers while during the design/tweak process of the next project for which I had originally intended this for.
Thanks for the ideas,
Best,
Phil
Hi BillWojo, it looks to be that there was some updating on some of the components, typical suspects, electrolytic and it looks like a few of the coupling caps were replaced. It may be that he also did some mod related to one of the resistor cans though I havent taken a good look at that. The guy was a highly regarded EE so I suspect these upgrades were performed, prudently.
Best,
Phil
Best,
Phil
my first real tube project was a restoration of a Leak Stereo 20 and when my kids were young, i was forced to sell ( many reasons ) and now that they are graduating college, I have much regret at selling that amp. I built a P-P EL84 amp thinking I could capture that magic but it is probably all in those sacred transformers. I have been keeping half an eye open on the market.
I am guessing that you have not been able to listen to it ?
..dB
I am guessing that you have not been able to listen to it ?
..dB
dBel84 , No, it's not in the sacred transformers it's in the engineers who could competently design with the **** they had on hands unlike 99% of a DIY folk who:
a)are not competent at all
b) have no reference points as to what the music supposed to sound like
c) is too cheap to buy anything more ambitious than a clock radio but express the attitude "we can do better at no cost at all
I also restored Leak 20 (two of them ) and a pair of Leak TL 50+ monoblocks. Sourced the correct PIO caps and all that. The only instance they showed some decent sonics was when paired with Tannoy Red coaxials. A rare occurrence of so called synergy when two objectively shitty products complimented their own shortcomings.
Vintage has no place in high performance audio with few exceptions and Leaks are not in the group.
My advice for the OP is to restore the amp as close to the original as feasible and sell it for decent money to vintage buffs (nothing wrong with that ) or sell to somebody who will. The only regret in this circumstances will be to gut the collectible and potentially valuable amp to source average transformers for pretty much worthless diy amp which has 1% of success. My 2 cents
a)are not competent at all
b) have no reference points as to what the music supposed to sound like
c) is too cheap to buy anything more ambitious than a clock radio but express the attitude "we can do better at no cost at all
I also restored Leak 20 (two of them ) and a pair of Leak TL 50+ monoblocks. Sourced the correct PIO caps and all that. The only instance they showed some decent sonics was when paired with Tannoy Red coaxials. A rare occurrence of so called synergy when two objectively shitty products complimented their own shortcomings.
Vintage has no place in high performance audio with few exceptions and Leaks are not in the group.
My advice for the OP is to restore the amp as close to the original as feasible and sell it for decent money to vintage buffs (nothing wrong with that ) or sell to somebody who will. The only regret in this circumstances will be to gut the collectible and potentially valuable amp to source average transformers for pretty much worthless diy amp which has 1% of success. My 2 cents
Vintage tube amps and sacred transformers
Hi dBel84.
Nope. Although I have an interest to build a nice stereo hi fi tube amp one day I initially had not much interest in rebuilding it. The original Mullard tubes and transformer set seemed to be something that could be part of a project I've had in the queue for a while now. When I looked into the Leak 50 there were mixed feelings about the quality of the sound compared to other hi fi tube amps in its class and that it was originally designed for a very low level input that wouldn't suffice for current line level outputs. Not that those things couldn't be ironed out with some basic modding. As a performing musician that has built his amps and pedals, thats where my interest was in doing projects. I just got the amp recently and felt like there were too many kettles on the fire as is, an wasn't ready or willing "yet", to start restoring a vintage tube amp. That's not where my heart lies right now in building. I'm just being honest with myself. I know what I want and approximately how I wan't to go about it.
I understand the warnings of regret on selling it. I practically gave away my late 60's Telecaster and Twin Reverb that my parent bought me when I was 13. I still need prosac at 63 years old if I dwell on it too long!
But I'm not as needy about "things" as I used to be. If someone really would like to have their hands on this amp for certain price that allows me to follow my destiny, I'll have to consider that. I'll ask them for listening visiting rights once a year or something. Not really.
Its all good. I can't sweat over gear too much or I'll go crazy. Hell, that amp was a few days away from the dump. So whatever happens with it, it will far better than its prior fate (in theres such thing).
And I understand the notion of "sacred transformers". Even it there are better ones.
Thanks!
Best,
Phil
Hi dBel84.
Nope. Although I have an interest to build a nice stereo hi fi tube amp one day I initially had not much interest in rebuilding it. The original Mullard tubes and transformer set seemed to be something that could be part of a project I've had in the queue for a while now. When I looked into the Leak 50 there were mixed feelings about the quality of the sound compared to other hi fi tube amps in its class and that it was originally designed for a very low level input that wouldn't suffice for current line level outputs. Not that those things couldn't be ironed out with some basic modding. As a performing musician that has built his amps and pedals, thats where my interest was in doing projects. I just got the amp recently and felt like there were too many kettles on the fire as is, an wasn't ready or willing "yet", to start restoring a vintage tube amp. That's not where my heart lies right now in building. I'm just being honest with myself. I know what I want and approximately how I wan't to go about it.
I understand the warnings of regret on selling it. I practically gave away my late 60's Telecaster and Twin Reverb that my parent bought me when I was 13. I still need prosac at 63 years old if I dwell on it too long!
But I'm not as needy about "things" as I used to be. If someone really would like to have their hands on this amp for certain price that allows me to follow my destiny, I'll have to consider that. I'll ask them for listening visiting rights once a year or something. Not really.
Its all good. I can't sweat over gear too much or I'll go crazy. Hell, that amp was a few days away from the dump. So whatever happens with it, it will far better than its prior fate (in theres such thing).
And I understand the notion of "sacred transformers". Even it there are better ones.
Thanks!
Best,
Phil
It came to me that I have a NOS pair of the Halldorson 7.4k UL PP trans . They are rated 100kz bandwidth and 100mA current . They state 25W conservatively but the Opts look like 60W to me. I was going to build Allen Wright triode EL34 monoblocks
with them but interest in DIY dwindled and frankly I'm not good enough electrician to make something worthy of time and investment. I could throw in a few hundred $ for the rest of the junk so you could build your contraption. All depends on condition of Leak amp so I could eventually make some profit which would allow a monthly supply of wine and cigars ..Post the picture . PM me if interested .
with them but interest in DIY dwindled and frankly I'm not good enough electrician to make something worthy of time and investment. I could throw in a few hundred $ for the rest of the junk so you could build your contraption. All depends on condition of Leak amp so I could eventually make some profit which would allow a monthly supply of wine and cigars ..Post the picture . PM me if interested .
