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Best Tube/SS Amps for Harbeth 7ES-3

Hi, I just bought a pair of Harbeth Compact 7ES-3 - beautiful sounded speakers. Very natural and musical.

Now I need to get an integrated or Pre/Power combo to drive it. Budget is about $3-4K new or used. I read the 7ES-3 is easy to drive. Which amp works better with the 7ES - Tube or SS?

What amps do you use for your Harbeth 7ES? How much power output do I need to drive the 7ES to its full potential?

Would a 20 watt per channel tube amp drive the Harbeth?

Now that I've settled on the speakers, I can focus on getting the amps :)

Thanks.
r0817
willemj
1,036 posts
 
They have been designed using a variety of bog standard Quad power amps. Alan Shaw, their designer, agrees with Peter Walker that a good amplifier is just a straight wire with gain. His criteria for choosing an amplifier are, first, enough power (the more the better), second, a load independent frequency response (few tube amps are good enough on this score, see the graphs in Stereophile), and an input sensitivity that matches the source (many modern sources output more than what many input stages can handle, with clipping as a result). None of this needs to be expensive. In fact, many audiophile amplifiers are worse than cheaper mainstream ones. They don't have enough power, they are load dependent, and some also have ridiculously high input sensitivities (e.g. full power at only a quarter of the volume dial). He has many great demos of all this on the Harbeth User Group forum.
biscorbit
143 posts
 
So far I'm loving my new C7's.  I gotta say even with my 20 year old amp b & K 7250 and preamp ref 30 they sound excellent.  I've been playing so much music it's crazy.  Overall I still want upgrade my amp and pre though.  A friend of mine is gonna bring down his mc2125 amp this weekend. Just to get the Mac sound vibe in my place. I might also audition the Cary integrated or rogue sphinx too.  I love to try the Rossi, but the way I'd want the lio will definitely cost more than I intend to spend.    
nycjlee
286 posts
 
@biscorbit - When I was considering the SHL5+ my dealer suggested Belles Aria as amp option as well.   Never heard the combo, but apparently they sound great with Harbeths.  I definitely would also recommend also auditioning a Hegel and the Rogue Cronus Magnum II.  CM2 is more expensive then the Sphinx but well worth the upgrade if you ask. 
philsons
28 posts
 
OT - I’m sorry for hijacking your thread, but I’m in the same boat but thinking about 30.1 or SHL5+. And can’t help wondering how a class A or SET amp would sound to these speakers. Loves a warm, detailed sound.

I have a few amp on my list:
Line Magnetic 518, Leben 300/600, Rogue Cronus,Vinnie Rossi LIO, also been recommended Croft integrated-r and LFD.

Im looking for comparisons between these, everything is appreciated!


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