Amp for Harbeth Compact 7eS3

[renjith lal]

Hi All,

I am looking for an integrated amp for Harbeth Compact 7eS3.
My present chain is Oppo BDP 103 as transport, Hegel HD11 Dac and Marantz PM7001 amp. Power wise I didnt find any issue as I never used to increase volume above 10 o clock position but I feel this combination is towards bright side.

Hence I am planning to upgrade the amp and looking for a perfect match or for an amp which has more synergy with Harbeth. In Japan I have seen Harbeth is paired with either Accuphase or Luxman in most of the places. In fact I was about to buy Accuphase 260/360 but since I was not getting 230V I dropped the plan . Getting Accuphase or Luxman in India is a tough task due to higher cost compared to other countries.So I am looking for a cost effective perfect match.

I did some homework and read that Harbeth pairs well with with Naim, Clones, Cayin and Croft amplifiers or synergy between amp and speaker is good. I have seen in Japan Harbeth is paired with tube amps or hybrid amps than solid state amps. Do you guys feel it should be paired with tube amps or hybrid amps?

Can you guys let me know your suggestions for a very good matching amp for Harbeth Compact 7eS3?

Thanks
Renjith

 

[raghupb]

Have you experimented with the Anthem Amp into the stereo chain?
This way you will get one more data point at home itself.

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[renjith lal]

Hi Raghu,

You meant Anthem 225?

Thanks
Renjith

 

[raghupb]

The one you have in your HT chain; MRX 510
Agreed it is an AVR, but you may get an idea how Anthem fares with Harbeth.

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[renjith lal]

Ok, not tried yet. Will check.

 

[arj]

Whats your Budget and Room size?
depending on the above why not the Leben 300. You get it at almost USD rates here by ARN.
Another amp could be the trigon..another very transparent amp. you may be able to get a demo of the Trigon s well and the Lebens are known to work well

advantage of both are an extremely friendly dealership/prices

 

[renjith lal]

Sorry I forgot to mention about room and budget.
I dont have a dedicated room and it is in living room and it is rectangular shape and speaker and listening area is along the shortest distance of rectangle shape.Listening distance is around ten feet from speaker but room size is 22*10 feet. Budget is one lakh inr or slightly more.

Thanks ARJ for suggestions.

 

[ranjeetrain]

I believe you can easily get a Naim Nait 5i in your budget.

One synergy and a very important one at that you are forgetting about - speaker-room synergy. You must this take into account in your amp hunt.

 

[renjith lal]

Thanks ranjeetrain.
Can you please elaborate bit more on speaker-room synergy. I am aware of the variable "room" but not sure how to take care of that.One option is room audition which is tough in India. I am using rugs and few absorption panels at reflection points but not using bass traps. So room is an issue.

 

[aashish351]

I heard Rahul's Harbeth C7 paired with his Luxman and my Exposure 3010. Both excellent combinations and not bright by any measure. Exposure pairing had a bit more sparkle compared to Luxman, which was more smooth. Rahul and I felt that Exposure brought a bit more bass out of the Harbeths than the Luxman, but the difference was very small. My gut feeling is that Luxman was a more safe pairing with Harbeth C7 as compared to Exposure and if a detailed but warm/smooth presentation is required, Luxman is a good choice. If a more neutral and powerful presentation is required, Exposure is a good choice.

 

[renjith lal]

Thanks Ashish for providing details. I guess Luxman is super expensive in India. As mentioned earlier, only due to voltage difference I couldn't buy it from Japan. Exposure was there in my mind but one of my friend said he compared Naim and exposure (2010 s2) and found Naim5i-2 better for him. I have not heard both.

Can you please PM me the price of exposure 3010?

 

[ranjeetrain]

Thanks ranjeetrain.
Can you please elaborate bit more on speaker-room synergy. I am aware of the variable "room" but not sure how to take care of that.One option is room audition which is tough in India. I am using rugs and few absorption panels at reflection points but not using bass traps. So room is an issue.

The easiest/cheapest way to understand a room is to run a frequency sweep and listen for peaks and dips. Accordingly some treatment can be applied. Using carpets/rugs at random may actually worsen the problem.

 

[renjith lal]

The easiest/cheapest way to understand a room is to run a frequency sweep and listen for peaks and dips. Accordingly some treatment can be applied. Using carpets/rugs at random may actually worsen the problem.

I used to check the response using test tone using my Anthem AVR for HT speakers.I used to see dips and peaks in response. But used to correct it using Anthem room correction. I don't know how to correct it manually. Can you give me some details how to check and correct it.

Thanks
Renjith

 

[arj]

if you are placing the speakers on the 10 ft wall then you may not need too much power. since you are in bangalore you can check with Jochen of The Listening Room, maybe you can do a demo of the amp at your house

As per Ranjeetrain's suggestion if you do get an used Naim go for it..it will definitely have a good synergy

 

[renjith lal]

Yes ARJ, speakers are on the 10ft wall and I don't get much reinforcement from side walls since my system is almost towards the center of the room. If I am going for solid state Naim is one of the preferred candidate.

Only question is if I need to go for a tube amp which will be the best option?
What about hybrid amps, I mean tube at pre stage and solid state at power side?
Please share your views.

I know that I need to audition and decide but it will be great if you can give some idea to shortlist.

Thanks in advance.

 

[arj]

My suggestion is not to get bogged down by the Tube/SS/Hybrid and go with the amp with the most synergy...the rest is all technical /philosophical and intellectual discussions which are theoretical at best - I have heard "SS" sounding tubes and Tube sound SS amps
Naim, Leben and LFD are the usual suspects with Harbeth . Any amp on the faster powerful side always goes well with Harbeths. Unfortunately in india we are starved for choices so are left with only 2 options
1. do a proper research of reviews and discuss with people on the net and Go blind with a choice
2. hear something with a dealer/owner and then follow step 1- this is less riskier but your choice is narrower as well

I have always gone with Step one and have had no complaints yet but option 2 also works . One amp I know you can try out is the Trigon or maybe the LM audio as well both the dealers are ok with Home demos and both brands have owners in india you can speak to as well.

 

[prem]

Renjith, you could explore Lyrita GM70 amp. I have not heard it but it might be worth a listen. Sudden 21 might also be an option. There was a used one for sale here

 

[arj]

Renjith, you could explore Lyrita GM70 amp. I have not heard it but it might be worth a listen. Sudden 21 might also be an option. There was a used one for sale here

Prem I have tried the Sugden A21 with the harbeth many years back in Singapore. found it making the music "slow" due to some reason. A marantz reference smp drove it far better.The GM70 could be an option.

 

[prem]

Thanks arj. I was sure you would have tried it out

So that's one less amp for the OP to experiment with

 

[renjith lal]

My suggestion is not to get bogged down by the Tube/SS/Hybrid and go with the amp with the most synergy...the rest is all technical /philosophical and intellectual discussions which are theoretical at best - I have heard "SS" sounding tubes and Tube sound SS amps
Naim, Leben and LFD are the usual suspects with Harbeth . Any amp on the faster powerful side always goes well with Harbeths. Unfortunately in india we are starved for choices so are left with only 2 options
1. do a proper research of reviews and discuss with people on the net and Go blind with a choice
2. hear something with a dealer/owner and then follow step 1- this is less riskier but your choice is narrower as well

I have always gone with Step one and have had no complaints yet but option 2 also works . One amp I know you can try out is the Trigon or maybe the LM audio as well both the dealers are ok with Home demos and both brands have owners in india you can speak to as well.

Thanks ARJ for all ideas. Really appreciate your help.
Home audition after step 1 and 2 will be the best option, not many brands to try as you mentioned. Will try Naim , Trigon and LM audio.