Harbeth P3 vs KEF LS50W

With respect to the LFD- yes, the Mistral is an earlier amp, which had a phono section.  I tried both the Mistral and the Mk. V in my system at different times.  I slightly preferred the Mistral, because the Mk.V seemed to have less bass response.  However, I discovered later that it was an issue with the phono amp I was using with the MK.V, so it wasn't the amps fault.  Knowing that now, I'd recommend the MK.V if you can find one used at a decent price (not easy to do).

I think the Brio-R will be a great match - many, many people seem to like the Brio-R with the P3s.  I don't listen to digital too much recently, but from reviews over the years I have gathered that the Rega DAC is one of the most analog-sounding DACs you can get.  The newer version (Dac-r)has can take higher sampling rates, so that fact alone would probably steer me towards the newer model. However, the previous model was very well reviewed and should be available used at a very reasonable price.  It should be a fine match with the Brio-r.

Keep us posted on how the Brio-r sounds with the P3s.  

Best, Scott

I have the p3esr and the kef ls50
the p3esr are in another league imo. dont know about the kef ls50W

I haven't found any Rega Dac for a good price yet.. I read that the -r model does include remote and has higher bit rate through USB, other than that the sound is the same. Can you confirm that, and help me understand what cables I need to connect my MacBook and amp.

Is it RCA from amp to DAC and USB, optical etc from DAC to MacBook.

Since I don't have a DAC for now and would like to connect the amp to MacBook, what cable do I need?

I ordered Qed 79 speaker cables as I read much on HUG about them and Harbeth. But I don't have a clue about the other cables, decent brand/model to start with..

I haven’t found any Rega Dac for a good price yet.. I read that the -r model does include remote and has higher bit rate through USB, other than that the sound is the same as the former model. Can you confirm that, and help me understand what cables I need to connect my MacBook and amp? My mac is a 2008 year model.

Is it RCA from amp to DAC and USB, optical etc from DAC to MacBook?

Since I don’t have a DAC for now and would like to connect the amp to MacBook, what cable do I need?

I ordered Qed 79 speaker cables as I read much on HUG about them and Harbeth. But I don’t have a clue about the other cables, decent brand/model to start with..

Thanks.

I owned a pair of Harbeth P3ESR amplified by Exposure 2010s2. I moved to KEF LS50 Wireless after one month of owning both, comparing.
Now, nothing touches vocals and small scale acoustic instruments on the Harbeth at low to moderate volume. Nothing that I've heard anyway.
If you listen to low-medium volume late at night to jazz, vocals, acoustic, folk, etc, Harbeth is the way to go.
The problem for me is I don't just listen to that, I like from time to time to up the volume and throw in other music genres.
The active KEFs get to about 90-95% of Harbeth's strengths with added scale, authority, bass, everything. When pushed to higher volumes the P3s start to compress, they are not a dynamic speaker. Not so with KEFs, these speakers maintain the low volume magic and "scale up" with added volume. What these things do with music is amazing.
To get to KEF's level of performance you will have to spend an obscene amount of money on separate components.
Not to mention I sold my dac, amplifier and streamer.