2. speakers
  3. 191541-35648

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
ahal1's avatar
ahal1 OP
9 posts
 

So - I did purchase the Hegel 400 - and I am still shocked at the difference. I did think that Amp is an Amp-- well, not true. No way to compare the Yamaha (which I quickly sold for 450). The control of the bass is just amazing. With the Yamaha, the piano sounded muffled and bloated - not so with the Hegel. I also built a Ton Trager like stands (from American red oak - so I can't compare to the real thing (German ash, I believe?)

arafiq's avatar
arafiq
1,747 posts
 

Except for the ‘all amps are the same crowd”, this should not be news to anyone. Harbeth speakers like solid state amplification. When I had the 40.2s, my best combo was a tube preamp paired with an SS amp. Best of both worlds. 

bjesien
1,415 posts
 

I had the C7esXP with a Supernait 3 it was a great combo but when I tried to play them "loud" with any bass music the baskets would bottom out. I only did it twice before realizing they’re perfect for most music but don’t excel in others. Kind of surprised, i might have been approaching upper 90’s db. 

Damping on this amp is 330 if that helps anyone figure it out.

westcoastaudiophile
542 posts
 

@ahal1 "Do Harbeth speakers really need a 4000 damping factor?” no!

even “ideal DF” amp w/ 1000000 damping factor cannot deliver it to the drivers, due to drivers resistance and speaker x-over design.. typical coil in low-freq. driver circuit has ~ 200mOhms of resistance, which limits damping factor at 30 level, for 6 Ohms spkr, assuming amp’s damping factor is infinite!

More to discover