The Best of the English Sound

Thanks everyone.

Jax2, as usual, I appreciate your analysis and comments.

What is changing from the photos you saw is that I am going from 2 to 4 or even 6 bigger (32") computer monitors, so the speakers will be even farther apart.

Re ATCs sounding forward or aggressive...as much as I like them (and also their rosewood cabinets) I would have never guessed British ATCs might sound hot, and thus, always assumed it was my cheapo Behringer amplifiers, not any forward or aggressive sound on part of the speakers.

So maybe the Harbeths would be a significant upgrade?

As I have said in other threads, I have never really loved the midrange and/or musical sound of any system or speaker to only add that I wish they had more "inner detail" or "resolution" both of which I now - after 30 years of this - believe to be synonymous with listener's fatigue.

Particularly in this nearfield, desktop configuration, I am listening to them all day, every day, at home and at the office with music, computer sounds, streaming video, and cable TV as the input.

For the dedicated rig, I am keeping the Tympani IVa's but will upgrade the electronics, bi amp, and add analogue when I have the time to enjoy.

Glad you liked the room - it is indeed a lot of fun and even my wife and her friends think it is beautiful and interesting.

cwlondon

Actually was thinking about the P3SER but without knowing anything about them....or the various models for Spendor...

A bit smaller is nice, if only to save space on the desktop, but then again, slightly larger might have better bass, and therefore the warmer sound I am looking for?

Any thought on various models within the Spendor and Harbeth lines would also be helpful.

Ejlif

Thanks and I have thought about that, but if you search other threads, you will see that the cheapo Behringer A500 is supposed to be a "giant killer."

I am using two of them as monoblocks and biamping, where they barely break a sweat as I use them mostly for background and TV.

This is not to say that they truly are giant killers, or suggest that a Pass or Levinson or LAMM or ARC wouldn't sound better, but under the circumstances, I thought the amps were the least likely source of an edge in the system, and that even with those components, the differences between ATC, Spendor and Harbeth would be clearly audible.