Amp for Harbeth Compact 7eS3

[Dr.Bass]

Harbeth speakers need power to sound clear, detailed and with good seperation..period. Alan Shaw (designer of Harbeth) recommends 100 watts to start with. At the bare minimum you need a good 50 watts like the Naim Nait 5i or LFD. A really good amp for your Compact 7es3 would be the Yamaha AS-2100 (even AS-2000 would do). Look for one of these amps if possible. I would suggest to stay away from romantic/warm/tube-like sounding amps.

 

[panditji]

I recently heard the entire series of Harbeth speakers at a UK dealer with Lavardin, LFD entry level integrated, Sugden A21 SE and enjoyed the most with the Sugden. Maybe the more expensive LFD would probably sound nicer as other people suggest but the Sugden was sounding beautiful... Heard the huge Graham Audio monitor LS5/9 as well but the Harbeth Monitor 40.2 was better and cheaper...

Anyways back to the topic, Sugden sounds lovely with the Harbeths as well as Luxman and Accuphase (ones I have heard).. Even Exposure 3010S sounded quite nice with my Compact 7ES3 ...

 

[Dr.Bass]

Sugden will limit dynamics on the Harbeth even though it may sound beautiful on some music. I am not a big LFD fan, I prefer Naim. I even prefer the Quad 909 a lot with Harbeth. Its a very good match.

 

[renjith lal]

Thanks a lot Dr Bass and Rahul for the suggestions. Got tied up with work and couldn't demo either Naim 5si, Trigon Energy and Croft. Based on discussing with people Naim 5si looks like a good option due to budget and availability. Will hear and decide.

Thanks once again.

 

[shanmune]

Harbeth speakers need power to sound clear, detailed and with good seperation..period. Alan Shaw (designer of Harbeth) recommends 100 watts to start with. At the bare minimum you need a good 50 watts like the Naim Nait 5i or LFD. A really good amp for your Compact 7es3 would be the Yamaha AS-2100 (even AS-2000 would do). Look for one of these amps if possible. I would suggest to stay away from romantic/warm/tube-like sounding amps.

100% agree with Dr. Bass. A decent and well built amp like Yamaha AS-2000 should make your Harbeth shine. One need not spend a bomb on a well built 100 watt amp if one goes by what Alan shaw himself recommends on the right amp for his Harbeth speakers.

 

[shanmune]

Dr.Bass, I have a query for you. We all know what Alan Shaw recommends - No substitute for watts when it comes to dynamics. Since you like NAIM, do you still recommend NAIT 5si (60 watts) over Yamaha AS2100 (100 watts) ?
I have seen Renjith's living room and it is too big for less powered amps (in case he is looking for more dynamics from his Harbeth).

 

[arj]

Sugden will limit dynamics on the Harbeth even though it may sound beautiful on some music. I am not a big LFD fan, I prefer Naim. I even prefer the Quad 909 a lot with Harbeth. Its a very good match.

quite right...been there and done it. not the right combo with a Sugden. I would love to hear it with a Naim.
Martantz Refrence series used to be a good combo. not sure of it now

 

[prem]

I heard the Harbeths at Viveks place with a Van Alstine ss amp. I think it was a 120 watt amp. It sounded good. It's a speaker which definitely seemed to want power

 

[renjith lal]

I have talked to Vivek and he is very happy with that combo.
Vivek is using a diy preamp and Van Alstine ss power amp I guess.

 

[Dr.Bass]

Naim 5si is a very good amp but it still is an entry level amp from naim. They have limited its frequency response and refinement in order to save costs. Yamaha AS-2100 is one below their flagship and its a terrific amp in general. I will go with yamaha especially if I need more power and overall refinement.

 

[prem]

Yes renjithlal. Vivek uses a passive pre. Based on what I heard at Viveks place, the Yamaha 2100 should work very well with the Harbeths

 

[square_wave]

Speaker / amp match and your listening preferences / expectations plays a huge part in all this. For example, I liked Naim amplification with many speakers but not with blumenhofers. They do not work well at all. However, the LFD was a fantastic match with them.

Another friend who owns evolution audio speakers recently went from a very popular brand to an LFD MK4. He had tried other amps but LFD is what he likes the best. The one he liked better was some really expensive Jeff Rowland model.

If you post your listening preferences / expectations, perhaps people can help better.

 

[arj]

Speaker / amp match and your listening preferences / expectations plays a huge part in all this. For example, I liked Naim amplification with many speakers but not with blumenhofers. They do not work well at all. However, the LFD was a fantastic match with them.

Another friend who owns evolution audio speakers recently went from a very popular brand to an LFD MK4. He had tried other amps but LFD is what he likes the best. The one he liked better was some really expensive Jeff Rowland model.

If you post your listening preferences / expectations, perhaps people can help better.

Good point although the Blumenhofer and Harbeth are very different speakers. Eg the Blumenhofer sounded very slow with my Leben but works its magic well with the Trigon. OTOH the Leben + Harbeth are supposed to be a great combination !!
The LFD, from all that I have heard might be a great combo with harbeth as well
So the synergy might play very different in different combos

 

[dheerajin]

Hi Renjith,

Just wanted to mention my experience here...
I have Yamaha AS-2000 and few months back I got a chance to compare it with
Naim Supernait and audience unanimously gave a green signal to Yamaha..

May be I am wrong but NAIM amps appears bit colored to me and some tweaking has been done to these to gave a foot tapping feeling while listening....and this foot tapping may not work with all genres...

Along with YAMAHA As-2100 , I would like you to give a chance to Parasound Integrated Halo amplifier. Also it is one box solution- DAC, Phonostage(MM&MC),Sub Out, Home-theater bypass, headphone amp and High current amp to satisfy power hungry speaker too..
If possible audition it...

 

[mpw]

to my info - yamaha as 2100 is not available in India yet and i think parasound has a mumbai dealer

 

[arj]

BTW forgot to add, the Blumenhofer+Leben i heard was in Jochens place and his Room is HUGE ! ..and we all know that the room has a big impact on the sound

 

[square_wave]

What is the street pricing on the halo integrated...anyone ? I recently saw an interview with John Curl and him talking about this amp among other things..

Crossover control, dac with dsd decoding etc..

 

[renjith lal]

Hi square wave,

I like good clarity and separation at low volume though I am okay in listening to high volume, highs should never be harsh. I am not good at explaining in technical terms .

Thanks

 

[prem]

Renjithlal, what you are asking is most times a function of how well the album you are listening has been mastered

 

[square_wave]

Renjith,

From a technical standpoint, good detail at low listening levels is usually a speaker phenomenon rather than an amplifier one although overall system matching plays a big role... From what I read on the web, harbeths are good at low volume listening.
I have zero ownership experience with harbeths, so someone else could chime in.