Do Harbeth speakers really need a 4000 damping factor?


Just got Harbeth C7ES-3 XD and using them with a "lowly" Yamaha A-S801 Integrated Amp - which with previous speaker (Canadian made Enigma) sounded OK. The Harbeth - are glorious with vocals and even piano sounds good but Orchestration seems somewhat muffled to me. I read that "Harbeth likes to demo with Hegel" (and Sugden?) but also that "Any good Amp will do".... The question is what is a good Amp? Would a Yamaha with 240 Damping factor suffice or really something like the Hegel with 4000? I am mentioning the damping factor specifically since it was such an obvious difference. On paper it looks like this might have a significant effect (assuming to the positive) on the sound. Any first hand experience opinions are appreciated. 

ahal1

Showing 1 response by bhvf

I read that "Harbeth likes to demo with Hegel" (and Sugden?) 

These are 2 very different sounding amps. I've never heard a Hegel I like, even with Harbeth 30's and 7C's. I haven't heard Sugden on Harbeth but I haven't heard an A21SE sound bad on anything...though I'm sure there's a few.