ahofer
New member
- Thread Author
- #1
Recently joined this forum, while doing my first speaker auditioning in 25 years. I ended up with a brand new pair of Harbeths SHL5+ Anniversary.
For 25 years, I had been using the same amp and speakers - Adcom 5802 and Thiel CS3.6. I was always happy getting maintenance done in Kentucky while Thiel was around. Alas, they are no longer, and drivers do fail.
When my youngest went to college last year, we moved out of our big suburban house into an apartment in NYC. Subsequently, I both blew a tweeter and my Cambridge Audio 851N DAC failed in a spectacular way (the two are probably related). I decided to bite the bullet and shop for new equipment. I loved the transparancy of the Thiels, and they didn't give me any listening fatigue. I listen to music everyday, sometimes for more than two hours, so that is paramount.
I've owned Magnepans and B&Ws in the past (1980s), and ultimately got a little frustrated with both.
My wife is a violist, and I am a former clarinetist and guitarist. I see live music about once a week, usually classical, sometimes jazz. I can easily walk to Lincoln Center from my new place.
I listened to models from KEF, Paradigm, ELAC, Legacy, Wilson, Spendor, ATC, and Harbeth. I had concerns about fatigue after listening to Wilsons, paradigms, and Legacies. In every case but Harbeth, I'd go home, put on the Thiels and feel like..the window had just been cleaned. To me, the Harbeths not only offered that high level of transparency, or lack of coloration, but strings sounded a bit more natural. I could hear the wood of the instrument. I could also pick out more individual instruments in a big ensemble.
Meanwhile, Cambridge offered me trade in value for my broken 851N on their new Edge NQ (i asked, and lo and behold, they gave me a decent deal).
I'm very pleased with the sound of the NQ-->Adcom-->Harbeth. People tell me I should upgrade my 1993 amp, that new ones "run circles around it". I have my doubts that it would make such a large difference. I think the *huge* power reserves of the Adcom really help.
It does run awfully hot, though, and summer is coming....
[Analysis plus speaker cables, mogami XLR interconnects, tontrager stands, QNAP music server, Minimserver, BubbleUpnP...did I miss anything? oh yeah, Monster Cable power conditioner).
Other equipment/Second systems: Kef LS50 wireless, IFI SDS pro DAC/Headphone amp, Sennheiser 650D, Bryston 3B, JBL Studio 830s
Happy to answer any questions I can about any of the above, and always interested in hearing other systems in NYC. Strangely, I don't actually have any close friends who give a s**t about audio. They think I'm weird, although I can usually get them to gasp if they are willing to sit in my listening position for a minute. The way most people listen to music these days (iphones, earbuds, and portable speakers), it's not hard to give them a sonic surprise. Particularly the musicians my wife plays with. The KEFs on my TV even get remarks.
For 25 years, I had been using the same amp and speakers - Adcom 5802 and Thiel CS3.6. I was always happy getting maintenance done in Kentucky while Thiel was around. Alas, they are no longer, and drivers do fail.
When my youngest went to college last year, we moved out of our big suburban house into an apartment in NYC. Subsequently, I both blew a tweeter and my Cambridge Audio 851N DAC failed in a spectacular way (the two are probably related). I decided to bite the bullet and shop for new equipment. I loved the transparancy of the Thiels, and they didn't give me any listening fatigue. I listen to music everyday, sometimes for more than two hours, so that is paramount.
I've owned Magnepans and B&Ws in the past (1980s), and ultimately got a little frustrated with both.
My wife is a violist, and I am a former clarinetist and guitarist. I see live music about once a week, usually classical, sometimes jazz. I can easily walk to Lincoln Center from my new place.
I listened to models from KEF, Paradigm, ELAC, Legacy, Wilson, Spendor, ATC, and Harbeth. I had concerns about fatigue after listening to Wilsons, paradigms, and Legacies. In every case but Harbeth, I'd go home, put on the Thiels and feel like..the window had just been cleaned. To me, the Harbeths not only offered that high level of transparency, or lack of coloration, but strings sounded a bit more natural. I could hear the wood of the instrument. I could also pick out more individual instruments in a big ensemble.
Meanwhile, Cambridge offered me trade in value for my broken 851N on their new Edge NQ (i asked, and lo and behold, they gave me a decent deal).
I'm very pleased with the sound of the NQ-->Adcom-->Harbeth. People tell me I should upgrade my 1993 amp, that new ones "run circles around it". I have my doubts that it would make such a large difference. I think the *huge* power reserves of the Adcom really help.
It does run awfully hot, though, and summer is coming....
[Analysis plus speaker cables, mogami XLR interconnects, tontrager stands, QNAP music server, Minimserver, BubbleUpnP...did I miss anything? oh yeah, Monster Cable power conditioner).
Other equipment/Second systems: Kef LS50 wireless, IFI SDS pro DAC/Headphone amp, Sennheiser 650D, Bryston 3B, JBL Studio 830s
Happy to answer any questions I can about any of the above, and always interested in hearing other systems in NYC. Strangely, I don't actually have any close friends who give a s**t about audio. They think I'm weird, although I can usually get them to gasp if they are willing to sit in my listening position for a minute. The way most people listen to music these days (iphones, earbuds, and portable speakers), it's not hard to give them a sonic surprise. Particularly the musicians my wife plays with. The KEFs on my TV even get remarks.
