I'm Baaaaaack.........From Suncoast Audio Sarasota

joeinid said:

That’ll be wonderful Tom.

While I had fun swapping gear and playing around, I did waste some money. I’ve had several systems (gear combos) that in hindsight I truly loved. But for some grass is greener ideal and some audiophile angst, blew up my system only to regret it now.

I’m excited to see that you are making well informed and targeted decisions. Smart. We should never lose sight of the fact that it’s the music that brings us joy, not the gear swapping or shiny new boxes.

Thank you so much for bringing new excitement to the forum.

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Yes, problem is a lot of can’t help ourselves, and we stop and look back, it’s easy to shake your head!

Discipline wins the race! I like many others are a distant painful finish [emoji851]


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"[...We should never lose sight of the fact that it’s the music that brings us joy, not the gear swapping or shiny new boxes....]"


This is so easy to lose sight of but it is so true. Although the auditioning part sure was fun. :celebrate008_2:

That musta been a fun day. But how is a 300w vs a 60w integrated anything close to an apples-to-apples? I'd want to hear an INT-250 if in that power league.

Regardless...the real question now....when do you swap the Harbeths for Magicos?

aardvarkbark said:

That musta been a fun day. But how is a 300w vs a 60w integrated anything close to an apples-to-apples? I'd want to hear an INT-250 if in that power league.

Regardless...the real question now....when do you swap the Harbeths for Magicos?

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Wasn't intended to be an apples to apples comparison. It almost wasn't any comparison at all as I had no plan to include the int 60 in the audition. The int 250, yes. But Mike didn't have one in stock. So I thought I'd try to get some idea of what a Pass Labs amp sounds like. Glad I got to hear the int 60 even though I settled on the D300 as my top pick. My ears really liked the int 60. I could be very happy with one. And I might have one in the future powering a system in my secondary listening room. But I liked the D300 slightly better.

Why would I want to swap the Harbeths for the Magicos? I LOVED the sound of the Harbeths with every amp I auditioned at Suncoast Audio. The D300 and Super HL 5+ 40th Anniversary Model speakers had superb synergy. It's the same speaker I have at home. I can't think of anything better for my particular application and budget. My ears really like the Harbeths.

Mike did play his big Constellation system for me through tower speakers...they might have been Magico MK IIs. I'm thinking they were but I'm not sure. Through that system those speakers sounded spectacular. But that is definitely an apples to oranges comparison to the Harbeths.

The music I listen to is almost exclusively acoustic...bluegrass (90+% of my listening), acoustic country, small combo jazz and some big band. The Harbeth speakers sound killer with acoustic music. I will admit I've not listened to large numbers of speakers and I suppose if I listened to several brands of speakers I might find something I like as well, perhaps even better. But that's gonna take some doin' because I really like my Harbeths. And paired with the D300 amp...they sound heavenly together.

aardvarkbark, have you had the opportunity to audition the int 60 and compare it to the int 250? If so, how do they compare at, say, medium volume levels? Similar? Not very similar? Int 250 has stronger bass, etc? Just curious how they compare?