Advice, changing system from Sugden & Harbeth to Leben & Devore ?


I need your advice from anyone that has some experience with these products. 

Right now I have a Sugden A21 Signature and Habeth P3ESR's. I'm thinking of changing them to a Leben 300 XS and Devore 3XL. Is this a sidewise move? What would I gain and what would I lose? I unfortunately can't demo before I buy. I was also considering the Line Magnetic 211IA. It's cheaper and more powerful than the Leben. I read a few people saying it matches well with the Devore 3XL. 

Any thoughts? I don't need to play loud and my listening room is rather small. Thanks. 
mezzanine

your going from a good class A SS to a good tube system so there will be quite a difference in sound just with the two different amps you have listed. That's not even getting into the difference in the speakers.

Me personally I'd stick with the Harbeth speakers, and add the Lebon as its wonderful.

I have heard the Devore Gibben 8 and the orangutan o/96 along side two  Harbeths p3esr's - 30.1 and a set of Dynaudio 3ways (don't recall the exact model but they were a three way design smallish tower about $5k same as the gibbon 8's) all in the same system when I was looking to replace my AudioNote ANE Lux's. I have to be honest I don't get the hoopla about the Devore speakers I found them dead sounding and a tad off in the midrange compared to the Harbeths and the dynaudios.

 I actually was very surprised at how nice the Dynaudios were in comparison to the gibbon 8 it was a no contest the Dynaudios were just much better balanced imo.

I almost bought the 30.1's but ended up with Living Voice Avatar 2s (r3) in the end but they are more similar to the Harbeth sound then the others.

I have had a chance to hear the 300xs in my system and if I didn't already have a wonderful tube SET I would have bought it its really good at everything and probably better then the Line Magnetic 211 but I have not heard them both in the same system. it may come down to power here depending on what speaker you end up with.

your going from a good class A SS to a good tube system so there will be quite a difference in sound just with the two different amps you have listed. That's not even getting into the difference in the speakers.

Me personally I'd stick with the Harbeth speakers, and add the Lebon as its wonderful.

I have heard the Devore Gibben 8 and the orangutan o/96 along side two  Harbeths p3esr's - 30.1 and a set of Dynaudio 3ways (don't recall the exact model but they were a three way design smallish tower about $5k same as the gibbon 8's) all in the same system when I was looking to replace my AudioNote ANE Lux's. I have to be honest I don't get the hoopla about the Devore speakers I found them dead sounding and a tad off in the midrange compared to the Harbeths and the dynaudios.

 I actually was very surprised at how nice the Dynaudios were in comparison to the gibbon 8 it was a no contest the Dynaudios were just much better balanced imo.

I almost bought the 30.1's but ended up with Living Voice Avatar 2s (r3) in the end but they are more similar to the Harbeth sound then the others.

I have had a chance to hear the 300xs in my system and if I didn't already have a wonderful tube SET I would have bought it its really good at everything and probably better then the Line Magnetic 211 but I have not heard them both in the same system. it may come down to power here depending on what speaker you end up with.

your going from a good class A SS to a good tube system so there will be quite a difference in sound just with the two different amps you have listed. That's not even getting into the difference in the speakers.

Me personally I'd stick with the Harbeth speakers, and add the Lebon as its wonderful.

I have heard the Devore Gibben 8 and the orangutan o/96 along side two  Harbeths p3esr's - 30.1 and a set of Dynaudio 3ways (don't recall the exact model but they were a three way design smallish tower about $5k same as the gibbon 8's) all in the same system when I was looking to replace my AudioNote ANE Lux's. I have to be honest I don't get the hoopla about the Devore speakers I found them dead sounding and a tad off in the midrange compared to the Harbeths and the dynaudios.

 I actually was very surprised at how nice the Dynaudios were in comparison to the gibbon 8 it was a no contest the Dynaudios were just much better balanced imo.

I almost bought the 30.1's but ended up with Living Voice Avatar 2s (r3) in the end but they are more similar to the Harbeth sound then the others.

I have had a chance to hear the 300xs in my system and if I didn't already have a wonderful tube SET I would have bought it its really good at everything and probably better then the Line Magnetic 211 but I have not heard them both in the same system. it may come down to power here depending on what speaker you end up with.

@glennewdick, Thanks! I appreciate your thoughts on this. From everything I read it seems Devore sounds best with tubes. Seems like they might need a bit of warmth that they have to offer. I'd be surprised if the Leben at 15 watts can drive the Harbeth P3's alright. As it is now my Sugden at 23 watts into 8 ohms and 30+ watts into 4 ohms seems to be the bare minimum amount of power they need. The Harbeth's are only 83-84 db efficient dropping down to about 6 ohms in some parts. The Devore 3XL is 90 db efficient never dropping down more than 7.5 ohms. This is why I think they would match up well with the Leben. I agree with your assessment of Dynaudio. They are always a very consistently good speaker. Well balanced. 
Buy the Leben.  I’ve listened to it on both the Devore 0/96 and Proac D30R.  On both speakers the sound is magical.  The bass impact on the Proac had me in disbelief that a mere 15 watts could do that.  Very impressive indeed.  The Leben doesn’t generate a lot of heat either which to me is a big plus.

I’m familiar with the Harbeth, Devore, and Leben. IMHO, you would go from a darker, somewhat reserved sound from your current pairing to a quicker, lighter and, to some ears, more expressive sound with the Leben/Devore combo. 

But let’s wind things back. What don’t you like now with your setup, and what are you trying to achieve? And what’s your budget, now and in the future?