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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?

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Showing 2 responses by mapman

mapman's avatar
mapman
21,838 posts
 

Agree you don’t want speakers that are too big for the room. If so it means you can go with smaller Harbeths and maybe save some $$$s. Right size it as needed!

I auditioned 40.2’s at Deja Vu audio in Northern Virginia a few years back.  Top notch sound BUT it was in a sizeable room with speakers about 1/3 length of room out from front wall and well away from side walls as well.  Not something just any room might accommodate.  It was also with some very large and very expensive CJ tube amps.  So it better have sounded top notch and in fact it did. Bravo!

mapman's avatar
mapman
21,838 posts
 

Nothing wrong with those big Harbeths especially if you listen to all kinds of music. Vocals are a particular strength and that means a lot!

Is placement/WAF part of the problem? The big Harbeths I have heard were enchanting placed well out from the rear wall. I could learn to live with that. Whereas Audionote is designed for corners. That’s a big difference. The solution is to get speakers that work well for you in your room. YMMV.

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