This is my main hobby so I do invest a lot but I only buy used. The only thing I have ever bought new is a Bluesound Node. I always sell pretty close to what I paid. Many times I have made a few hundred dollars on a deal for my trouble and got the experience. I love the journey and the opportunity to hear different components.
I haven't been this excited in a while!
I have been growing my system for 8 years going through 8 preamps, 6 amps, 5 phonostages, 8 DACs, 8 streamers, 6 turntables and 7 sets of speakers. Lots of long drives pulling a U-Haul haha. I live in Memphis and have been to Dallas, Bethesda, DC, Jersey, Charlotte and Asheville.
My Wilson Sophia 1 have been the speaker that keeps making the most musical sound in my system through all the electronic upgrades. Other Wilson(Yvette/Sasha DAW/Alexia 1) had an overly bright/harsh sound that I could not enjoy. EgglestonWorks Viginti and Focal 1038Be did the same. I often have an experience with gear that doesn't fit the mould of what is expected. Wilson and dealers all were in disbelief that my inverted metal dome tweeters in the Sophias play smoother than the soft-dome, but it wasn't just me...had a couple local audiophile friends over and I will never forget, one used the expression that they make you want to run out of the room.
A few weeks ago a friend let me listen to his Harbeth Compact 7ES-2s and I was blown away. All the assessments and reviews were spot on. They were so musical and natural sounding. This medium sized speaker was also super impressive in how the bass filled my large space.
I started looking for some older model 40s and am going in about a week to pick up my M40.1s. I was never a huge fan of their aesthetics with the old school box design. I do love wood however it may be used in a home and with that sound they are looking more and more beautiful to me.
Sonus Faber have a similar reputation and with their sleeker and more modern design, I had thought they would be my next contender but at the price point and the reviews of these 40.1s, as I said...I am just giddy over getting them home and seeing how they can perform.
I listen to all genres of music and will report back in a couple weeks on how things work out. I was curious of others that are new to the Harbeth sound.
Cheers,
Dana
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@dhite71 Congrats on acquiring a Harbeth speaker. As you know I owned the Harbeth 40.2 model which I regrettably sold last year. Prior to owning the 40.2, I briefly auditioned the 40.1 at a friend's place. The 40.1 was a little too warm and rolled off for my taste. But my friend actually preferred the sound signature over 40.2. The 40.2 was a bit more transparent and open sounding but your experience might differ from mine. Either way, whether that's your final stop or not, it's worth exploring and enjoying the Harbeth/BBC monitor experience. It might not do everything well but it excels at what it does best -- beautiful midrange, seductive transparency, lifelike vocals, accurate tone and timbre, and musical bass (no, it's not tight or punchy). However, they are not 'trebly' or as airy as some speakers like Focals or Wilson Audio, nor do they disappear as well as some narrow baffled speakers. Lastly, while I certainly enjoyed it with tube amps, it really needs solid state to grip those woofers and make them obey. A tube preamp + SS amp was the ticket for me. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did. I might consider buying 40.3XD in the future if and when finances allow.
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@dhite71 The following is info I shared within my Audio Group when making arrangements to experience/purchase the Speakers. ___________________________________________________________ Comments made by those that have been demo'd the Speakers are shown below, |
The following is my description given to my local HiFi Group about the early experiences had with the New Speakers. ____________________________________________________________ Good Evening Group I am compelled to share the unavoidable thoughts that are developed, resulting from the most recent experiences with using the New Speakers. Since they have arrived, I have been working with Placement and a creating a strong sense there is a Coherence of the sound being produced across the frequencies. Coherence is easy to become unbalanced when Gain Controls needed to be used can be a two edges sword. As in Photo editing software's, less usage of the editing tools is much much more beneficial when trying to create the attraction of the end photo. The smallest of touches to the Gain brings the most from the times a tweak seems to need to be required, keeping on the side of very attractive is the goal. Small changes to the symmetry of the Speakers are quite capable to change the impact of the sound being released. I would say at this stage I am with gain adjustment and symmetry alignment, approx' 6+/8ths complete with the task. It might take a Room Measurement and a final tweak to the Room Treatment or Speakers programming / Xover design to absolutely nail this one??? I have also found that Building Up the Height of the acoustic control panels in Room Corners has added a betterment to the Structure of the sound released into the room, the Volume certainly was able to be rotated a little more and remain at the newly adjusted level. Knowing how well my ESL's coupled within the listening space and how the experiencing of these in this space was to the listener a indelible encounter. Lets say the ESL's were quite special. Totally capable of creating an immersive experience, where sound was well structured and the ambience of a performance has been quite a believable happening. The New Speakers are far further in their being capable of this, to the point, there is something much more immersive. There is an unusual tangible structure to the overall sound produced. The affect of the tangible structure of sound produced, is where I am sensing the presentation is within a purpose made structure, think Amphitheatre or Arena and Cavea. It is like the Sound has tangible structure and is contained within a visualised 3D Sound Space. There is sensed a perimeter structure which I am contained in as a spectator of an event. This is a Sound Experience very different to what I have come to know as a quality sound experience. These are not typical descriptions, but they are shared as the result of something quite special having been experienced. That something is not a describable quantity, it is needed to be experienced to get the basics of an understanding of which I am poorly describing. In a lesser version WOW! WOOW! WOOOW! ____________________________________________________________ I have had to purchase additional seating for the Audio Room, the queue has increased in number to get in early, gaining entry and be entertained with the New Speakers and some other new items to be used in my system.
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@pindac I have googled the brand name "New Speakers" and, so far, haven't been able to find any info or a website for this manufacturer. Are you running them with your old equipment or have you paired them with the "New Amps" and "New Preamp/streamer" as well? I hope you're entertaining yourself with your smug little game. |
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