among dynamic loudspeakers, big harbeths like big spendors and big proacs, are akin to 'the girl you marry for long term happiness'... substantive, refined, all arounders for a lifetime of satisfaction, as opposed to so many modern high tech speakers that are good for cheap thrill rides but rarely pass the test of time
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?
- ...
- 101 posts total
I'm a bit concerned that my 150wpc tube power may not be enough. On the other hand, the Allnic is not your typical tube amp. I just don't want to get my passion for this integrated in the way of finding synergy with speakers. I have no real expertise knowing is this integrated will move those big woofers with texture. Reviews have warned me of this. Looking around the forums, this version of Harbeth, absolutely rocks. I appreciate the first hand experience however. Also, some reviewers seem to believe that these maybe best as near field monitors. |
unless your room is truly huge and/or you listen crazy loud, 60 push pull triode tube watts should be plenty (certainly 100+ pentode watts will be)... mon 40’s work in the nearfield (take tom mallin’s experience with many grains of salt) but are really meant for decent sized rooms where their utter ease and big sound become magical, and the speakers can be placed away from room boundaries that said, in my experience, the mon 40’s bring a good dose of richness and warmth to the music in and of themselves, and are best used with top flight solid state amps, as the big woofers and medium efficiency of the speakers like strong current drive and damping factor/grip for the best bass and uber clean transient attack pass labs, hegel, classe (among other excellent solid state) are well known lovely pairings with mon 40’s |
I own Harbeth and they are not, in my humble opinion, rocking-out speakers - Just as @rsf507 mentioned. For Classical, Jazz, musicians such as Dire Straits, Taylor Swift, Pink Floyd, any Blues, Female voice is wonderful, and any acoustic they are amazing. @jjss49 is correct. AC-DC/Ghost/Black Sabbath not so much. A sub does help, but they are not JBL's or other speakers known for in your face sound. I listen to everything (including Ghost, Hot Tuna, Led Zeppelin and AC/DC) and I don't mind they are bit "polite" for very hard rock. I never get tired of listening, which some "in your face" speakers can cause you to turn them off. No offence to JBL, I had them in college. I hear the new ones are better balanced, but have not heard them. I think the 40.2 with a sub, will be a good balance......Hope this helps.
|
- 101 posts total