Leak Fest 2005
The Leak Fest 2005 organised by Terry Bateman was held on 16th October in Roy Gandy's (Rega's boss) Latchingdon Hall in Essex. The surrounding is beautiful and the weather was exceptionally good for October in England. It is my first time to attend a Leak fest and I really enjoyed it. A few people stayed in a local pub on Saturday, but I got there on Sunday at about 11am. The fest was already music and plenty of chatting going on, so I just joined in.
The main hall is usually used for playing table tennis or other function, but it is ideal for the Leak fest with plenty of room.
Vintage enthusiasts from left to right: John Bacon, Lee Hibbert, Andy Miller, Mark Mason, Terry Bateman, Carl Beckwith, Jeremey Davies (kneeling down), Frede Kristensen and me (Hon Lau). David Fagan had already left when the group photo was taken. Frede came all the way from Denmark to attend the fest. He is a true B & O enthusiast who restores vintage B & O equipment.
The main speakers used that day for testing the amps were Jeremy's ESL7. Jeremy drives a Peugeot 406 estate car and I am not kidding you, the back of the Peugeot was fully packed with his equipment, probably worth more than a brand new 406! Judging from what Jeremey brought to the Leak fest, his house must be full of vintage stuff. I found it much easier to ask Jeremy what vintage equipment he hasn't got, rather than what more he has got. His answer was: "a pair of Pye HF25"! His wife must be a very tolerant lady with a heart of gold!
"Serious" David Fagan having a cup of tea while enjoying the superb sound from the ESL57.
Jeremy was thinking really hard in this photo, what exactly had gone wrong? There wasn't any sound from the system! Before the Leak fest, I didn't know Jeremy. Chatting to him about ebay, I found that he outbidded me in an ebay auction of a lovely Dynatron PX4 radiogram a few weeks ago. You jammy git!
It really was a vintage heaven in Latchingdon Hall. There were so many nice vintage amps. You can see a pair of rare Verdik EL84 amps at the top right, a pair of Heathkit EL84 amps and a very rare Decca Decola EL34 stereo amp connected in triode mode.
On the stage of the barn, a more modern system was set up. The speakers in cherry veneer are Rega Ela. They gave excellent bass for their size due to the transmission line design. I was well impressed with them, even a pair of Leak TL12+ could drive them to sufficient volume in such a big hall. Terry may be able to do a special price if you are interested in a pair! Lee brought a pair of Rogers LS3/5a which were listened briefly. We all know David Fagan is a die hard LS3/5a fan!
Terry brought this Tripath stereo digital amp with him. Carl also tested his digital amp with the Quad ESL57. Most people were surprised how good such 10W per channel digital amp was. I thought the digital amp good for their low cost, but at high volume it lost control, became quite congested.
Surprise of the day was the Radford STA15 and Beam Echo DL7-35. Most people rated these two amps highly that day. It is my first time listening to the Beam Echo, they are absolutely fabulous, with very clear midrange and very extended treble. The bass is tight and they drive the ESL57 with ease. I love to own a pair one day! Jeremy, you are one lucky person to own them.
Beam Echo DL7-35, I want them badly.
Another star of the day, the Radford STA15. I must restore mine soon and listen to it. I can understand why Ken Kessler likes it so much.
A rare Armstrong A10 monoblock with EL37 fitted. Carl Jones, I can hear you shouting: "I want it, I want it"! At the back is the Pye Mozart EL34 single ended amp and the tuner.
Another amp owned by Jeremy, the RCA Orthophonic KT66. one pair was just sold in ebay on Sunday for over a grand!
This is one of the rarest EL34 amps I have ever seen, model SA170 made by Richardson. The circuit is printed circuit board rather than the normal tag board. The wiring is extremely tidy.
A Decca Decola. It is nice, isn't it?
How can it be a Leak fest without a pair of Leak TL12+? They are in superb condition. Lovely sound with the Rega Ela speakers.
Verdik EL84 amps. I don't know much about them. There were so many amps on the floor, we didn't have enough time to listen to every one.
This is an odd ball. A Rega valve DAC? You won't see it in the hi fi shop, but fortunately Terry let us listen to it with the new Rega Apollo CD player.
Good old Terry, thank you for organising the Leak fest. I really enjoyed it. Hope to see you next year.
David Fagan and Mark Mason. Mark has got one of the best looking Leak Stereo 20 I have ever seen. He hid the underside of the amp by screwing an aluminium plate under the amp. I can see Mark being a minimalist with just one Leak amp driving a single pair of speakers in Windsor Castle (where he lives with the Queen's family!).
John Bacon and Lee Hibbert having a discussion.
The last amp we listened was the Leak TL10. Terry likes them for their warmth. They are a bit underpowered in the big hall, but there is something special about them. At the back is a sad pair of Leak TL12.1. Unfortunately the 25uF cathode bypass caps of one amp were physically leaking badly, a true "Leak" amp in style!
We left just after 5pm, Frede in the empty hall.
We helped to load up Jeremy's Peugot 406. I was tempted to swap my Corolla with the fully loaded 406!