Harbeth 40.3's. Should I buy them?
I've owned a lot of speakers. I've just finished auditioning a pair of Alta Audio Alec's. Not good at all in my system. I own a pair of Spatial X3 open baffle speakers. I really like them and my wife doesn't. I recently bought a pair of Buchardt S400 MKII's for a second system. I say second system because I have a dedicated 2 channel room 15' x 19'. Upstairs in a much larger room, the Buchardt's were anemic, fine, 2 Adam subs solved the anemia. Then just for the heck of it (and because audio is a hobby) I moved the Buchardt monitors downstairs in the 'big guys' room. The Buchardt's loved that room and my wife loved the Buchardt's except they are to small for the listening room and our listening tastes.
I'm tired of buying and selling speakers. I've been to a hundred audio shows and have "favorites". Harbeth have always sounded great, not a show stopper, but, at shows, they've been totally inoffensive, warm and engaging in the same way I like Audio Notes AN-e.
We play all types of music. My wife especially likes classical, leaning towards female singers but too, she'll rock out on Led Zeppelin, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Keyes, Journey, you get the idea. Me, classic rock but anything that soothes my soul works. I like to play loud. My wife - louder, but not teenager loud.
We have an awesome front end to work with. Allnic T2000 30th integrated (60wpc in triode 150wpc in pentode), Allnic H5500 phono and Allnic D10000 DAC.
Why wouldn't we happy with this speaker?
Tried it in a smaller 11’x12’ room, I heard the prior 40.2 version on my prior 50wpc tube Triode and 60wpc tube mono blocks. Big transformer amps, plenty of drive. It was like having headphones on. Could have benefited in a bit larger room, yes. Sounded nice and musical though. Not sure why a 15’x19’ room would not work though, interesting. Would have to hear them positioned back/mid room both. |
@desalvo55 which T2000 do you have, the 25th came with KT150s and 30th anniversary comes with KT170s, or some older model? Both of these later amp units should be fine in Pentode mode with the H40.3s at moderate volume levels. Sure, a little less drive in Triode mode of course. Kinda also depends on how often you/r family listens to loud rock music. Maybe not designed for that so much, more of a musical finesse speaker than a rock monitor. |
@desalvo55 by chance did you try your X3s paired up with really fast subwoofers? While we understand you currently have subs, wondering if positioning of the X3 must be closer to the wall, curious to know what experimentation you did with different/separate subs. Sub pairing could be tricky there if they don’t keep up with the X3s. Also curious to know what there was not to like about the X3 with and without really good subwoofers. Might help us to read some details from you about what you did not like about each of these other speakers too, fwiw. Sometimes it's the amplifier itself - not helping some speakers to realize their full potential.
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@desalvo55 saw these and thought of your requirements, amp, room size, budget. No affiliation, as a hobby builder myself, appreciate the design, parameters, in your case. Something else to throw another hat in the ring, next to Vandersteen. Many people with my amps run Vandersteen. Nice unique boutique design, craftsmanship, different. Stuff like this can be worth a flight and day trip imo. Kinda cool.
95.5 db sensitivity 8ohm +/- 1 ohm, tube amp friendly small room capable, can place against back wall Nice looking, imo $11,850/pair Ferndale, WA USA 98248 [email protected], (01) 360.312.3604
Daedalus Audio Muse
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Let me re-phrase it. That wasn’t the point of the question. It was about whether or you tried the X3s with "different/separate subwoofers", or not. If I’m understanding your reply, the answer is "no". Good to know, and I always wanted to try/test this myself with the X3s. Sticking with my own, and simply admiring these speakers.I’ve always wanted to design/build my own AMT panel in an MTM configuration with larger faster drivers (like the X3 has), and pairing with my own separate stereo subs. Having studied the X3s a bit, and I run similar AMT/Bass driver configurations in my own custom design speakers, however, with separate 12" purpose built Scanspeak subwoofers - two added subs, very musical. A different approach. Personally I don’t consider those drive units in the X3 to be subwoofers in the regular sense. Those are classified by spatial as "bass drivers", powered by a Hypex Fusion NCore plate amp powering a 15" custom made driver for frequencies 90 Hz and below. Nice and fast, yes, beautiful. Something more to be achieved, yes, maybe. And could it change the overall sound and presentation, possibly. Others here run sub arrays and may chime in. It’s quite an art, good fun too. Was referring to something different, and it appears you ran your X3s standalone, with no added subs, if If I’m understanding correctly. Just another test, that’s all. Best of Luck on the search. |
Start with speakers, then the amplifier. If this is the truly the case according to your amp manufacturer, imo the amplifier is a limiting factor - given all lf the different speakers you've tried and still plan to. Same issue, you'll want to hear the Legacy with your integrated. Not their amps. A close colleague went and demo'd them, he walked out being led to believe he needed to buy much higher power SS amps to get the most out of the Focus XDs and a few others. Was told his 60w mono tube amps wouldn't cut it. Bailed out. With a really good preamp, with two sets of pre-outs, the right mono amps, the right subs, guarantee without a doubt those X3s could be made to sing. :) my .02 cents. |
+1 what @avanti1960 said too. Harbeth, Spatial, Legacy, Quad 57s - all can sound good when paired up with robust amplification combined with good room setup. Having tried building pseudo replica ProAc floor standers years ago, how they can pair up so well [as @axeis1] suggested, with some lower power tube amps - is still quite interesting to me.
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@jjss49 that is super helpful intel. Knowing what amps were used in designs and optimized to operate with certain speakers, sure can save people a lot of time. Was not aware of the design origin of the 6550 amp / Proac combo. Interesting.
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