Leben Hi-Fi Stereo Company
2-36-29, Nishi-Koya, Amagasaki City, Hyougo 661-0047

Leben Hi-Fi Stereo Company, established in 1995, is a Japanese manufacturer of high-end tube-based preamplifiers, power & integrated amplifiers, and, so far, a single tube-based RIAA.

Leben is a German loan-word that translates into 'to live', 'to be alive', 'lively' or simply 'to exist'. Newer models contain the tag-line 'A motion sound' adding a feeling of experiencing music in a Haruki Murakami-like atmosphere.

Mr. Taku Hyodo, an experienced audio engineer with a past working for Luxman, is a collector of new old stock vacuum tubes, for example 6X5GT, 3CSS, 12AT7, E288CC and 6L6GCs, in addition to being a music lover with a professional back ground playing the guitar.

At 60, Mr. Taku Hyodo left Luxman in 1979 to establish his own company, “Kouri Denki Corporation”. He kept designing and constructing amplifiers under the ‘KFH’ brand name – primarily custom-made products for café, bars and restaurants, also a somewhat Haruki Murakami-like project.

Mr. Taku Hyodo's first commercial product to see a broader market was the ‘Triode 33’ power amplifier released in 1991 followed by the RS-35A 6L6GC tube-based power amplifier under the Leben brand in 1995.

Leben released the RS-28C preamplifier (equipped with E288CC tubes) in 1998. To cater to a wider range of audiophiles, Leben subsequently introduced a series of more affordable amplifiers: the CS-200, CS-250, CS-300, and CS-300X, released in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2005, respectively.

These amplifiers allowed a broader audience to experience the unique sound quality associated with Leben products.

In 2005 Leben released the Leben CS-600 integrated amplifier featuring four 6CS7 tubes for the driver stage and four 5881 or EL34 output tubes. The CS-600 was succeeded by the CS-600X in 2019, with most of the design remaining the same, except for the type of driver tubes.

Point-to-point wired tube amplifiers are rarely seen nowadays, as it requires a skillset few modern workers have in world af general mass production. Leben is one of few amplifier manufacturers that feature amplifier designs of this type thanks to a highly skilled number of employees working in the company’s quarters in Nishi-Koya in Amagasi City.