Thread: What amp on Harbeth speakers ?

Originally Posted by Paul

The ATM2 is simply the Best KT88 amp in the world in my honest opinion. Thank you for share.



This is set up I like to have.

Oeffff ... that is an lovely setup there.... cant imagine anything going wrong there.
It sits verry elegant and a serieusley musical combination. ..

I always liked the sound of harbeth. (Shl5 and 40 series)

I only dont like the looks of them. I call them big shoe boxes.lol but they do sound verry wel....
This is my setup for now

Thanks paul...

The power amps are the 2 grey match boxes .lol...
Those are the kharma mp150 monos.

I know they are not the biggest MONOS. But they sound just great when paired with a good tube pre...

Some how I never could Let them gow.
I Let gow of my Lamm ml1 and Lamm M1. 1 but have kept this little power bloks....


http://www.positive-feedback.com/Iss...arma_mp150.htm

uploadfromtaptalk1450022493443.jpg

The Sanders Magtech is great with the 40s.

This were the lamms with the air tight and some other stuff I was testing with.



uploadfromtaptalk1450023244099.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450023262911.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450023273077.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450023308515.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450023325667.jpg

Hi paul...

My name is Maz.

I am persian and I live in the Netherlands, and as u see I have had my moments of gear swapping haha lol...

UnTill last week I had the white kharma s7signiture.

But I changed it for an db7 signiture.
Now I have a db7 (no signiture version) until the signiture version are finished.

I hope they wil arive in 10 weeks.

Here some more pics. ..
uploadfromtaptalk1450026308950.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450026319022.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450026326365.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450026334188.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450026347063.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450026359101.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450026367693.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450026376132.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450026388322.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450026401832.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450026426529.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450026435402.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450026506051.jpg

Originally Posted by Mike

Welcome Maz! Gear swapper? You're definitely in the right place.


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Thanks Mike. I try to be diffrent.lol

There is only one way of find in out if your talking about audio gears and thats having them in your room with your equipment..
And im one of those Peaple whoe does not sit still and listen to one gear for long time...

Originally Posted by Paul

+ 1. We have few in the pool.

Hahaha. So here comes one more gear swapper. ..lol..

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Originally Posted by joeinid

Mazzialk,

Such beautiful photos and systems. Thank you so much for sharing.

Your welcome.

It's nice to share.

I see ive missed some pics... uploadfromtaptalk1450055478017.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450055507926.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450055531389.jpeguploadfromtaptalk1450055572045.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450055597885.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450055616463.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450055641605.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450055656246.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450055673997.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450055700936.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450055716014.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450055743633.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450055794414.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450055812797.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450055860429.jpg

Hmmm I cant find the pics with the Lamm M1 and Lamm l2 ref pre and the nagra gears I had..

But there is inough to show...hahah

uploadfromtaptalk1450056110990.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450056165138.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450056190218.JPGuploadfromtaptalk1450056214264.JPGuploadfromtaptalk1450056110990.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450056282165.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450056297805.pnguploadfromtaptalk1450056327666.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450056386942.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450056409449.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450056424962.jpguploadfromtaptalk1450056631128.jpg

Originally Posted by joeinid

Such a wide variety of gear. Amazing.

Thank u .

I costed me lots of hours and back pain but im lots of experience ritcher.

I had the aidiophile gear swapping flew for the last 3 years. So what u see has passed here the last 3 year's. Lol.

I always wanted to see and hear for myself , in my own room what diffrent gear did.

From 300b 8 watt tube to big amps as the Lamm M1 and the big sphinx twenty six.
Andso. ...

And speakers going small bookshelf like Wilson benesch arc (what a crap) and tad/pineer 2s/s3 ex to bigger Wilson audios en kharmas....

And its so hard to get a good match between gears /speakers and room....

U only understand the difficulty when u have six or Seven diffrent amps lined up and while u though wauwww thats it , the next amp just pushes the bar higher with a better match ...

It's good that some folks dont know what theyre speakers/amps /gears at home actually can do when setup with a "perfect"match. Ofcourse it is also a matter of taste but even then how far your taste can go with an existing rig...

YES!!! Another 'box swapper!'. Welcome!! You've had some nice stuff.

Originally Posted by Zero

YES!!! Another 'box swapper!'. Welcome!! You've had some nice stuff.

Thanks zero. Im having fun with it...lol and yes this gear head has issues .. he cant stop swapping. .

Im still searching for the holy grail but have not hit the pay dirt yet.

I think im swapping the wrong stuff. I need to swap my home first before going for the big rigs and the full orchestra.

Originally Posted by Mike

Doesn't Alan Shaw say all amps sound the same on his speakers? Doesn't he use a cheapo Japanese receiver? Maybe grab yourself a Onkyo receiver and be done.


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Been there , done that and Alan shaw can gow get a pair of ear peaces from better hearing shops to help him hear the diffrent sounds between diffrent amps on harbeths.

Hè can make speakers but doesn't hear them play..lol

I had 10 amps on the shl5 en they didn't sound all the same.

Even my 66 year's old mom could hear the diffrent.

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Originally Posted by mazzialk

Your welcome.

It's nice to share.

I see ive missed some pics... uploadfromtaptalk1450055572045.jpg

Wow!
What an arsenal of equipment! Thanks for sharing!

Is that Pass INT-150 the only Pass you've listened to in your system?

Originally Posted by kkfan

Wow!
What an arsenal of equipment! Thanks for sharing!

Is that Pass INT-150 the only Pass you've listened to in your system?

You are all welcome.

It's a bit of work getting the pics lined up but its worth it because its appriciated as I can see.

I have had diffrent pass stuff .

The int 150.
The x150.5
The aleph serie
The x....something preamp

Actually after the int 150 I was so dissapointed that I stoped searching the "sound character" I prefer in pass stuff.

I found the aleph 0S paired with the ML 38s did a verry good job on the kharmas .... I paired the int150 to the kharmas and was pretty dissapointed with the result.
It was not a good match.

I found the sound of pass a bit lay back for my taste. It's want lets sayyyy, dynamic...

Originally Posted by Mike

LOL. You'll be kicked out of the Harbeth club for that one! I've even read Alan's rants about the topic. Quite entertaining. Actually, more like scary.

At least the designer of The Living Voice (a strong Harbeth competitor) appreciates good Kondo gear.

I was kicked out few year's ago when I called harbeth SHOE BOXES. Lol

Some how harbeth Peaple have a zen with their equipment thats everlasting.

I though harbeth was the holy grail when I saw and heard how harbeth Peaple talen about the sound of harbeth.

For that I got myself a pair of SHL5 after auditioning the full harbeth range but the m40.

I though thats its for maz , this is his last speaker Brand but after 2 weeks of sitting in the dark I could not take it anny more . I turned on the light and there they were : a pair of big shoe boxes in the middel of my living room......

Coming down the road of kharma and Wilson Audio ,it looked like a had the boxes of the Wilson Audio spair parts in the room and been sitting and listening to them.

After 4 weeks I sold the harbies and never looked back...

They sounded pretty ok I must say but they missed the buttom octaves.



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Let's face it.... Most Hi-Fi stuff looks ridiculous.

- BBC speakers look like shoeboxes
- Most Wilson Audio speakers look like high-end trash compactors.
- Avantgardes are straight out of Dr. Suess.
- Kharmas and Rosso Fiorentinos look like high-end coffins.
- Martin Logan panels look like cheese graders.
- Maggies look like an ugly canvas.
- Magico speakers look like high-end, painted telephone poles.
- Living Voice speakers look like tissue boxes.

The list goes on..

Hahahahaha.

At least my kharma had the woord and the high end looks , even its looking like a ....

Bbc stuff dont even look catwalk .



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How could I forget Vivid? D'oh!

Seriously though. People move on from lots of things. Especially in this hobby. The only thing that separates Harbeth from many other manufacturers in this industry is that they've managed to cultivate a group of loyal fans who are extremely passionate (read: biased) towards Harbeth product. This in and of itself isn't a bad thing. The only problem is that fans have a tendency to hype up whatever it is that they love, which in turn, can mislead (ignorant) people into believing something that probably isn't true. And therein lies the onion.

Now when it comes to product turnover, the rule of thumb is simple: The most popular and hyped up products will usually yield the highest turnover rates. Let's take ELAC for example... You know, the speaker company that's been getting a ridiculous amount of praise across the interwebs. Well, as it turns out, not everybody feels the love. Within' the past month, I've received five e-mails from people who bought the ELACs and subsequently returned them. Why? Because they effing HATED them.

So the question is... is this ELACs fault? Is their product not all it's cracked up to be? Or is it the buyers fault for getting drawn into the hype and setting unrealistic expectations?

Originally Posted by Zero

How could I forget Vivid? D'oh!

Seriously though. People move on from lots of things. Especially in this hobby. The only thing that separates Harbeth from many other manufacturers in this industry is that they've managed to cultivate a group of loyal fans who are extremely passionate (read: biased) towards Harbeth product. This in and of itself isn't a bad thing. The only problem is that fans have a tendency to hype up whatever it is that they love, which in turn, can mislead (ignorant) people into believing something that probably isn't true. And therein lies the onion.

Now when it comes to product turnover, the rule of thumb is simple: The most popular and hyped up products will usually yield the highest turnover rates. Let's take ELAC for example... You know, the speaker company that's been getting a ridiculous amount of praise across the interwebs. Well, as it turns out, not everybody feels the love. Within' the past month, I've received five e-mails from people who bought the ELACs and subsequently returned them. Why? Because they effing HATED them.

So the question is... is this ELACs fault? Is their product not all it's cracked up to be? Or is it the buyers fault for getting drawn into the hype and setting unrealistic expectations?

Great perspective!

Regardless of what amp(s) you use, if you want to get the most out of your Harbeths, you need to get these:


http://spec-corp.co.jp/e/audio/RSP-901EX/index.html

http://jeffsplace.me/wordpress/?p=71...sts_position=1

Or this..

Originally Posted by Mike

I noticed a few that were conspicuously absent.

Uhhh...ahem....VIVID.

Mazzialk - I'm curious, if you only lasted two weeks with them, why did you buy them in the first place?

I do find people tend to move on from Harbeth. Some return. Some don't. Is the sound too colored? Is it music dependent? It's like the guy who falls madly in love with the girl, then realizes she has too many faults, or that's she's a he and moves on. . I've seen many friends do this. It is quite peculiar.

Hi Mike

The reason I bought them is because they came up my path second hand and I really wanted to spend some time with them to see what the harbethiers experience and Why they are in such ZEN in the audio community.

Wel thats actually the reason I bought most of my stuff , pure out of curiosity.

Holland is a pretty small country and u have lots of audiophiles here (lets say from top to bottom 200 Miles, en east to west 150 miles ) Germany/Belgiëum are within 1.5 hout reach. So its verry easy to pick up beautifull stuff here on the second hand market for a reasonable price and selling them again within fast time.
lots of Peaple in small area =fast business.

So if I see something at the right price than im on the highway to a New experience.lol


What I have noticed about harbethiers is that they are pretty mutch down to earth Peaple , with simple thoughs and not really into details of looks and sound. (They are more into the music than scale of soundstage and pinpoint accuracy and decay of the hall reflecttions when listening to "music". ,) .
I can see the harbeth owners giving me the thumbs2 up here...

I dont see harbeth Peaple as audiophiles. They are for me more of Music lovers that want a good sound in theyre living room.
(In exeption of m40 owners, they have the audiophile flew, but just cant get out of the "CLOSET".
Moste I know have normal Jobs with normal incomst and do not have the privilege of making mistakes in theyre purchase.
So they are pretty much like white papers that need filling.

And when u search a forum and u are looking for good sound within resonable budget (speakers +amp+source+cable) and u need to hit the hifi spot with a few grand of cash than u end up with harbeth.

THe hype with harbeth is , and thats the part of marketing what they have done a good job in , IT SOUNDS GOOD/EASY TO DRIVE and u dont need rediculouse high end (expensive)stuff to make them sing.

IT'S LIKE U CANT GO WRONG with a HARBETH.so put down the BIGGEST CHUNK OF YOUR BUDGET FOR THE SPEAKERS because AMPS dont make diffrent when u have the harbeth.

And that really happens in the world of harbeth, lots of Peaple dont even know what theyre harbies can achieve with a grate amp.

Not knowing or having the chance to change gears makes the harbeth community HERE pretty stable. In theyre mindsetting they have good sound so there is no reason for looking further. (Not really audiophile), just down to earth and simple thinking.....thumbs up for that if u are one.

Dont get me wrong these speakers do sound verry good , and the ones that have the privilage of knowing what a wel chosen setup can do end up with a set like our friend here with his MAJESTIC M40 AND AIR TIGHT GEAR..

Would be nice if u leaved a bit closer. ... love ro hear that setup....

SO I have seen 4k (euro) shl5 being driven by 350 euro gear and the owner was pretty happy with it because his while budget was just that and he didnt want to buy 4 cheaper gears that didn't make noticable price diffrent from what he actually had.

And yes it did sound ok.
But than so did my Quad 12l2 . At 300 euro. I think he wil never find out what his harbeth can actually do when paired with a nice tube amp.
I think he wil end up selling his car.lol

The most harbeths that I have listened to were pretty EASY listening , I myself liked the harbeth sound (shl5) (the only harbeth I liked) a lot when paired with an tube amp.

The shl5 was a verry forgiving speaker that tended to make everything sound pretty good and thats something that u have to like about a speaker.

And for "MUSIC LISTENERS"thats a verry good quality in a speaker, every music sounds pretty good with "anny cable " lol . Even a coat hanger .

The m40 I have not yet had the pleasure of listening to ubfortunatley ,but having loved the shl5 im shore they are grate speakers.

If they would have them boxed like a DECENT looking speaker thats catwalk looking , than I would buy them when I am finished fooling around and hobbying.

When I am older (with all respect to the elders)and looking for peace and zen in my audio quest I shal buy a m40 , if they can change the looks of it. Hahaha

Originally Posted by jap

Regardless of what amp(s) you use, if you want to get the most out of your Harbeths, you need to get these:


http://spec-corp.co.jp/e/audio/RSP-901EX/index.html

http://jeffsplace.me/wordpress/?p=71...sts_position=1

I think u forgot something about harbethiers theyre gears already sound good.
This are for high end Peaple whoe are never satisfied with their stuff.

If u are looking for a sale , than the harbeth forum is the worste place to be.hahah lol

Gladly I dont own a harbeth anny more so I would like to have a try on anything that can "CHANGE"/BETTER my sound and equipment.lol...even if its a feathere from a bird in africa that is stikken out of my preamp .

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Originally Posted by Zero

Or this..

That ones u can buy here @ every corner in the weed shop.
Its The best sounding upgrade money can buy.
If actually gives u an unparalleled feeling when listening to anything though anny speakers. Lol

Nice post. I think you have a pretty good feel for Harbeth, their audience, and their marketing. I'm going add a little bit to your post, if ya don't mind...

- It usually takes most designers 2-3 years to really get to know their own product. There's this idea that the designer has seen the top of the mountain with their own gear, and that usually isn't the case.

- The whole "all amps sound the same" mantra from Harbeth is more political than anything else. Alan and the crew are not nearly as closed-minded about that as they lead the public to believe. I wish they'd loosen their belt on that matter - especially on their own forum.

http://highfidelity.pl/@main-582&lang=en