Confused and need help


After finding out that my 1.7 maggies were going faulty and losing their sparkle i went on the hunt for new gear.
I took my gear (2x parasound A21 and my ARC LS17se preamp ) and went shopping. 
I had heard great comments about the 30.2 harbeths so i hooked up my gear and listened for a few hours, i was not impressed, something was missing, it was flat, and boring. 
I connected up the new Ayre integrated amp and wow, the 30.2 sounded so full, warm, accurate.
Surely my electronics are not that poor quality?  
motorsportmatt1
What leads you to believe that the Maggies are "going faulty"?  Is it just because they've lost some sparkle?  If so, I'm with @mijostyn.  When was the last time you replaced the tubes in the LS17?  Good NOS tubes in a preamp can definitely bring back that sparkle.  Sometimes it happens so gradually you don't even realize it was gone until you replace the tubes.

2x parasound A21

I presume this means that you have used the two A21s in bridged mode. The manual for the A21 states as follows:

You should not connect a speaker with an impedance of less than 8 Ω to the A 21 when it is configured for bridged mono operation....

... We strongly recommend against using speakers rated at less than 8 Ω when bridging.

The Maggie 1.7 has a nominal impedance of 4 ohms. The Harbeth 30.2 has a nominal impedance of 6 ohms. Both speakers are therefore not good matches for bridged A21s.

Also, given that a single A21 operating in stereo mode is quite powerful (spec’d at 250 watts into 8 ohms and 400 watts into 4 ohms), and given that both speakers have sensitivities in the vicinity of 86 db or so, I would think it likely that a single A21 operated in stereo mode would provide enough power anyway.

And, finally, I see that the Harbeth has a "power handling" spec of 150 watts "programme," which is to say that a single A21 operating in stereo mode can most likely supply more than twice as much power into its 6 ohm impedance than the speaker can safely handle.

Regards,
-- Al
I would go with what rcimci and david_ten mentioned.

It may be you. It may not be your equipment. Or, as they used to say, varietas delectat.

Whatever the reason, if you can, try it at home.