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speaker endgame upgrade recommendations coming from Harbeth C7ES-3 XD2?

Hello All,

After a few years now of going through a number of speakers I took a chance on some Harbeth Compacts and they have resonated me to a significant degree above and beyond anything I have owned recently,

my recent speakers include B&W 805 D4, Kef LS50 Metas, Totem element Fire V2, Dynaudio Heritage Specials, Dynaudio Special 40s, Wharfedale Elysians

The Harbeths to me sound far more musical, extremely so, vocals are truly lifelike to me and they just sound better to my ears than the others by a big margin

With that said, and now having somewhat of a baseline I want to see if I can get into an endgame set of speakers 20K price range that provide a significant upgrade

I suspect that larger Harbeths may just give me more of the same?  

I was thinking Tannoys, Fyne Classic Series, even maybe Klipsch Heritage, Devore O/96, a friend also recommended active ATC's and Dynaudio Confidence

Im no longer concerned with may of the attributes people chase in high end speakers, I just want something fun and musical to which the juice would be worth the squeeze dollarwise when upgrading

appreciate suggestions

thanks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

audiocanada
audiopacer
80 posts
 

@audiocanada similar journey; rolled through many, many Dynaudio speakers then Harbeth; shl5xd, c7es3xd, m40.2,m40.3; love love love the strengths of Harbeth; agree with your summary. Discovered ATC- try SCM40 or SCM50; incredible midrange- I feel the ATC 3” midrange driver and over all crossover design yields a midrange that does Harbeth better than Harbeth. Insane, uncanny see thru transparency that lives and breathes. Then there is the dynamic performance and truthfulness to tonality and near faultless broad band performance that easily blows past what Harbeth can do; I love Harbeth, don’t get me wrong, but the ATCs build on what we like about Harbeth, and keep extending it across the range. They are the most natural wide band performing speaker I’ve heard / owned. 
I can’t say enough about them :) 

ericba's avatar
ericba
155 posts
 

The Harbeth C7ES-3 XD2 are a very good speaker. It would help if you mentioned the other components. Synergy is very important, particularly amp with speakers. I owned a pair of Harbeth M30.2 40th anniversary. They were fantastic with vocals, midrange and soundstage, especially when I put them on Ton Trager stands.

Like you I decided to do a significant upgrade. I traded to the Dynaudio Contour Legacy. Likely my end game speaker. I had listened to the Devore O/96, which are also a top choice. (Much better than the Fleetwood Deville that I compared side by side by the way). But my room was not large enough (room size also matters when you pick speakers). Another pick would be the Perspective Graphene. Again depending of your amp and other component matches. Good luck and keep us posted.

jpcmrc
61 posts
 

Legacy Focus SE driven by BAT tube preamp and BAT solid state power amp.  You should at least check them out. Bill Dudleston is an amazing speaker designer. I flew down from Anchorage, AK to Springfield, IL to audition these speakers.  Bill was kind enough to personally audition the speakers for me on the weekend. It was an amazing experience.

19mmark19
6 posts
 

I did exactly what you're considering about 10 years ago. I had the C7ES's and upgraded to the 40.1's. I've never looked back and consider them my endgame speakers. The 40's were definitely a step up from the C7's.

joeycastillo
277 posts
 

Hey OP

 

For me IMO only, fun speakers for me are ATC , most specially actives. 

i have heard the Harbeths and its family of speakers. they have the harbeth sound. they are very very good and sounds end game but for me, it's not for me, I prefer the Falcon Gold badges and ATC. but that just me.

now if you are in the market for simply and Fun, then try the ATC line of actives. 

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