Amp for Harbeth Compact 7eS3

[raghupb]

Hey Renjith,

Did you get a chance to pair up with your Anthem AVR?

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[mpw]

ghar ki murgi.. daal barabar :lol:

OP - do try the anthem which you have - it will give you another perspective.

regards

 

[renjith lal]

Sure I will try, didnt get time yet.

 

[vivek_r]

Hi,

I posted elsewhere about my amp search with the Harbeth Compact 7 ES3.

Best Harbeth for Leben 300X

The Clones 25i are a good match for the Harbeth (positive comments on the net as well), but only in a small room.

Can tell you this though - Harbeths sing with more power. I have been lucky with loaners lately - tried it with Jaton Operetta with JLS' passive pre and it was really nice. But had to return that.

I told my friend that Compact 7s, to me, sound best with fast, powerful and sweet sounding amp (yeah, well!) - he asked me to try out his ancient (1980s) Audio by Van Alstine amp with a passive pre that he had made.

I did that with trepidation - it is an old amp, and needs a transformer for voltage conversion. But am I glad I did it - I find it difficult to turn off the music. It is that good! Stonking special good!

Given the season, I can say clearly that the Force is with this one!

Today, I listened today to classical (Strauss, Stravinsky, Bartok, Schubert), Jazz (Art Farmer, Ella Fitzgerald) and Rock (Cream! Blimey!). It worked well with all of these. It is the best I have heard my system.

Now I just need to change my name, number, address and make sure that my friend does not trace me.

Vivek

 

[arj]

Hi,
...
Can tell you this though - Harbeths sing with more powe

r......
I told my friend that Compact 7s, to me, sound best with fast, powerful and sweet sounding amp (yeah, well!) - he asked me to try out his ancient (1980s) Audio by Van Alstine amp with a passive pre that he had made.

I did that with trepidation - it is an old amp, and needs a transformer for voltage conversion. But am I glad I did it - I find it difficult to turn off the music. It is that good! Stonking special good!

Many of the older amps are fantastic as they were designed with music in mind and not specs. ( not that all old are good...many suck as well !)

Amplifier Power rating is overated (no pun!) as the power rating you see is for a specific frequency only while power needed by the speaker is really varying.
In the end what the speaker sees is the current and the amp needs to have the ability to give the right current at that instant it needs it. This is why pure Class A "sound" 2-3 times more powerful although their rating may be only 1/3rd.
Tube amps generally have lower voltage but have the ability to be a source of constant current across varying demand and hence sound more powerful

if you can do go through this.. Amplifiers: Solid State amps verses Valve amps

 

[square_wave]

I did that with trepidation - it is an old amp, and needs a transformer for voltage conversion. But am I glad I did it - I find it difficult to turn off the music. It is that good! Stonking special good!

I have been hearing good things about AVA amps for decades now. They are still being made by the gentleman himself in woodbury.

avahifi - avahifi

Do you remember the model you heard ? Valve or SS ?

That ultra valve amp and preamp you see ( below link ) at RMAF is a special combo...and stonking good deal !!

http://parttimeaudiophile.com/2013/10/16/rmaf-2013-salk-sound-and-audio-by-van-alstine/

 

[renjith lal]

I talked to vivek_r on phone and he said he is using DYI pre amp and solid state power amp from AVA. Vivek can correct if I am wrong.

 

[unleash_me]

I second the Leben and LFD suggestions above.

Its been a while since I even bothered to check whats new out there these days.
So with that caveat out of the way, if you have access, do listen to McIntosh MA2275 with your Harbeth. Ive my SHL5 powered by one for many years now.
I do some late night listening, in a 5x7m(ish) heavily carpeted and curtained room, almost everyday. So far, I haven't had a single instance where I felt the need to change anything in the setup.

 

[renjith lal]

Thanks unleash_me. I have seen Mcintosh in Japan.
But difficult to buy in India due to cost. I am planning to audition Trigon Energy with Harbeth. Any one tired or using the above combo?

At this point of time due to less fund I may go with either Naim 5si or Trigon Energy depending on which one I like more after a home audition.

Thanks.

 

[shanmune]

Renjith, The harbeths are truly benign load for all the amplifiers to work. In that way, harbeth can go well with any of the amplifiers. You already have a solid robust amp and that can make your C7ES3 sing. Are you missing some thing with your current setup that warrants a change in the amp ? If you want some more muscle, I understand your need for going for a new/bigger amp, but that doesn't seem to be your requirement.

 

[renjith lal]

It is not power which is lacking. But Harbeth with Marantz is bit bright for me.
I am not very good in explaining technical terms like PRAT and all. In general I like good seperation, good clarity and good details.

 

[hifiramr]

Marantz Pm7001 is an ordinary amplifier for midhifi speakers not for better speaker like Harbeth.Always it needs good current to flow on.I think you need to check with a tube amplifier.Why dont you talk with Viren Bakshi he may help you to get a better tube configuration for your Harbeth.

Or you need to try some old solid state amps

 

[shanmune]

It is not power which is lacking. But Harbeth with Marantz is bit bright for me.
I am not very good in explaining technical terms like PRAT and all. In general I like good seperation, good clarity and good details.

Renjith,
Before you venture into buying a new amp, please take some time to visit harbeth usergroup and look for threads on matching amps.

 

[sidvee]

It is not power which is lacking. But Harbeth with Marantz is bit bright for me.
.

What cabling are you using? I have heard the 7 with both ss and tube pairings and to me there was no brightness, rather they sounded slightly recessed especially compared to the SHL5. So signal cabling could be something you can look at.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[shanmune]

Always it needs good current to flow on.

I do agree from a broader perspective that speakers do have greater dynamics with increased amp current. Having said that, harbeth speakers have better impedance curve than most of the speakers available in the market. In fact they go for a very conservative ohms rating rather than showing an average ohms rating. If you look at the impedance curve of all the harbeths, the lowest it can go is 6 ohms at a particular frequency range and remains high for the rest of the range. The speakers (non harbeth) that I own is rated for 6 ohms, but when I looked at the impedance curve, I was shocked to see it touching as low as 3.5 ohms. In fact the designer, at Harbeth, himself has clarified few times that the harbeths provide a benign/easy load for most of the amps. Harbeths can shine even when paired with load variant amps.

 

[sidvee]

Hegel HD 11 Digital-to-Analogue Converter (Hi-Fi+) | The Absolute Sound
Another thing perhaps to consider is your DAC. if you read this review, the reviewer does allude to some brightness from the Hegel. So that may be the cause as well, and if the marantz is also on the bright side of neutral, the synergy will definitely be on the brighter side.
I have not heard either the hegel or the marantz so it is mere speculation on my part but something you can take a look at.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[mpw]

if you can import from UK - please consider the sonneteer alabaster ( besides the naims ).

From UK price reduce 20% VAT = that will be your price minus any material discount + freight ( to where ever you want + india customs charges etc..

check the harbeth forum as well for more inputs

 

[renjith lal]

Thanks Sidvee. I am using Chord Carnival cables/ Murthys cable and I just got Oyayide cables because of similar suggestions from another experienced user. Will try with new cables.

Another issues could be the burn-in time. Hegel says it need 100 hrs of playing to get good performance. I have not played more than 25 hours till now.

 

[renjith lal]

Thanks mpw for the information. I was not aware of this price reduction for outside UK. This is true for Naim also?
One of my friend recently came from UK. Hmmm, could have asked him to bring.

 

[renjith lal]

Alan Shaw also says higher power is always better and also it is better to have high power amps to get best out of the speaker.