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Speakers (and system) for a small-ish room

I bought a pair of KEF LS50 wireless for my study/home office a few months ago. First off, I am absolutely in love with the speakers. After integrating a REL sub (T9i), I moved them to the game room (20 x 25), where they are doing everything I hoped they would. So now, back to the study/home office :)

The room is about 10 x 13 ft with 12-foot ceilings. Given the way the furniture is laid out, and of course WAF considerations (she shares the office), I have very little flexibility in terms of placement. The biggest problem is that I cannot place them more than 1 foot from the wall and 4 feet apart. My desk chair is about 6 feet away from where the speakers would be eventually set up. The speakers would be flanked by two bookshelves on both sides.

My initial thought is to just get another pair of KEF LS50 wireless since I like their sound in the game room. This way I don't have to worry about getting a separate amp (integrated) and streamer. This setup has the highest WAF score :)

But then a little voice inside my head is telling me "why have the same sound everywhere?" It'll be nice to have a bit of variety. Hence this post. Given that I can get the LS50 wireless for about $2400 (including custom stands and taxes), I  want to put together a system which is around the same price. I don't intend to play anything loud in the study. Genres: jazz, vocals, some classical, some R&B and soft rock. Don't care much for metal, rap, EDM type of music.

There is an almost new pair of Harbeth P3esr for sale in my vicinity (craigslist) listed for around $1100. I'm seriously thinking of buying them. That leaves me with around $1300-1400 to spare. Does this sound feasible?

If possible I would like to experiment with tubes. But I have no idea as to how they would (a) pair with the Harbeths (always heard that they do better with SS), and (b) the cost, since tubes generally tend to be more expensive.

I am open to ideas as long as the total budget does not exceed $2500. I am willing to spend a little extra for used stands. 

128x128arafiq

Showing 4 responses by willemj

willemj
1,036 posts
 
I similarly use Harbeth P3ESRs in my study and they are truly excellent - The best small speakers I have ever heard. Since they are a sealed system they can be placed relatively close to the wall (a foot is fine). They like a bit of power, and I would concur with their designer Alan Shaw that solid state would be best. In my case, I use my desktop computer as my only source, and an ODAC usb DAC into an Emotiva Control Freak volume control/passive pre amp into a refurbished 2x100 watt Quad 405-2 power amplfier (with some additional attenuators because the Quad has such a high input sensitivity). That is the kind of amplifier power and quality that they like. Alan Shaw recently used a 2x100 watt Yamaha AS701 to demonstrate them at the Bristol Hifi Show.
Have a look at the Harbeth Users Group, with many excellent no nonsense contributions by Alan Shaw himself. These little beauties are glorious.
willemj
1,036 posts
 
I have nothing to add other than that $1100 for a pair of P3ESRs is an exceptional bargain and one that I would not want to miss.
willemj
1,036 posts
 
Apart from my Quad electrostats in the main listening room and some modest speakers in de the bedroom, I have both the 11 Ohm LS3/5a and the Harbeth P3ESR as mini monitors. Both are pleasant, but for me there is no doubt that the Harbeth beats the old LS3/5a by a pretty wide margin. It is much more neutral, can handle far more power, and has deeper and tighter bass.
willemj
1,036 posts
 
So glad you have come to like them. I love mine too. They are indeed glorious with a midrange to die for, a very clean bass and no harshness at all. The little Naim will indeed be enough in such a very small room. But as you say at higher listening levels you are already experiencing limitations - I think those are from the Naim and not from the Harbeths. Of course such small speakers have dynamic limitations, but they would be far less with a beefier amplifier (I use a refurbished 2x100 watt Quad 405-2 in my 18 sq m study). Alan Shaw recently demonstrated them at the Bristol Audio show using a 2x100 watt Yamaha AS 701. In a larger room they can also benefit enormously from a subwoofer (or preferably two, plus Antimode 8033 room eq). I did that as an experiment in our living room (using a refurbished 2x140 watt Quad 606-2), and the result was pretty spectacular even if the system could not quite fill this large room. Integration was perfect, making for a strange sensation of deep bass seemingly coming out of these tiny boxes.
As for stands, the crucial thing is to have the tweeters at ear height, and as accurately as you can achieve.
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