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Harbeth 40.3's. Should I buy them?

I've owned a lot of speakers. I've just finished auditioning a pair of Alta Audio Alec's. Not good at all in my system. I own a pair of Spatial X3 open baffle speakers. I really like them and my wife doesn't. I recently bought a pair of Buchardt S400 MKII's for a second system. I say second system because I have a dedicated 2 channel room 15' x 19'. Upstairs in a much larger room, the Buchardt's were anemic, fine, 2 Adam subs solved the anemia. Then just for the heck of it (and because audio is a hobby) I moved the Buchardt monitors downstairs in the 'big guys' room. The Buchardt's loved that room and my wife loved the Buchardt's except they are to small for the listening room and our listening tastes.

I'm tired of buying and selling speakers. I've been to a hundred audio shows and have "favorites". Harbeth have always sounded great, not a show stopper, but, at shows, they've been totally inoffensive, warm and engaging in the same way I like Audio Notes AN-e.
We play all types of music. My wife especially likes classical, leaning towards female singers but too, she'll rock out on Led Zeppelin, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Keyes, Journey, you get the idea. Me, classic rock but anything that soothes my soul works. I like to play loud. My wife - louder, but not teenager loud.

We have an awesome front end to work with. Allnic T2000 30th integrated (60wpc in triode 150wpc in pentode), Allnic H5500 phono and Allnic D10000 DAC.

Why wouldn't we happy with this speaker?

128x128desalvo55

Showing 2 responses by patrickdowns

patrickdowns's avatar
patrickdowns
499 posts
 
mbmi

re: Buy more speakers! OK—send more money! I approve of choices in booze too. Sad that in my older age (65) I'm now a lightweight...2 drinks and i'm ready for bed. D'oh!

patrickdowns's avatar
patrickdowns
499 posts
 

I have 10 pair of speakers......all sizes...all brands...all prices. Each pair sounds different with different types of music. JBL and Klipsch Heritage and Tekton for Rock.....Triangle and Maggies for Jazz....Maggies for Classical. I don’t believe ONE speaker can do every type of music the" best".....Switch your preferred speakers in and out depending on the genre’ of music you happen to be playing on any given evening.At the Florida show the standouts were Acora...MBL...Borresen and Focal IMHO....

😳

I remember an amusing 18th century suicide note, which read simply: "All this buttoning and unbuttoning..."

All this plugging and unplugging! I listen to up to 8 or 10 different genres of music in a long listening session. Changing speakers for each? Maybe if I was really rich, I would have half a dozen rooms with different systems (as different speakers require different amps, tubes or SS, room setups, etc).

I do believe that there are some speakers which are almost "jack of all trades" if not master of any one. If I could have 2 setups, it might be Vandersteen Quatro CTs or Kentos (or 7s), or Rockports (for even more $$) in one system, and then a 2nd smaller system with a lovely 2-way stand speaker (Harbeth/Graham/Joseph/or  ?) and maybe a nice integrated amp—small, simpler system. I've heard the Linkwitz 521 and they are magical, as are the MBL omnis, so maybe I would need a 3rd system! Oy. 

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