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Alternative to my P3ESR

I have a pair of Harbeth P3ESR in my desktop set-up, powered by a Primaluna Dialogue Premium with KT150 power tubes. I love the imaging and mids, especially in acoustic music, but I miss the mid-bass. I have a Rel T5, but it's helping the lowest bass, not giving that mid-bass thump I am looking for. I tried a few solid-state amps but missed the tube sound - and they both felt fatiguing in comparison. 

Any suggestions on an alternative standmount at a similar price that I should consider for near-field listening? I'm about four feet from the speakers, they're three feet from the back wall.

stephenjess
roncagg
65 posts
 

Some great insights and suggestions in here! My P3esrs sound better driven by my Wyred4sound 100w class D amp than they did with my sugden a21se sig (which sounds sublime over the Atalante 3 in my main system - those speakers are probably too big for your application though). Maybe sell the speakers and put the proceeds toward one of the P3 XD models and/or buy a more powerful SS amp to try. Something about the sound you get out of that diminutive P3 format that would make me reluctant to switch from that model altogether!

arafiq's avatar
arafiq
1,790 posts
 

Selling my P3esr’s was one of the few times I’ve regretted selling my gear. It’s hard to describe but there’s something special about the sound these little guys produce. My suggestion is to buy a beefy SS amp. The P3esr’s will scale further. 

stephenjess OP
8 posts
 

Thank you for all the comments and advice. Speaker placement and subwoofer integration has done a lot to help. I moved them closer together and a bit closer to the back wall. I set the sub crossover closer to 80hz and increased the volume a little. The sub integration will take a bit of fiddling about but that's part of the fun. There is so much I love about the sound of these Harbeths, and they image so well, I am going to stick with them for now. I tried a NAD 218 and a Bryston 2B before, but I found them both fatiguing compared to my Primaluna in triode mode.

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