Harbeth Compact 7's


Hi Gents, (Ladies too), Rlmm here.

Recently acquired a nice pair of Harbeth Compact 7's and I'm trying to decide on some gear to drive them properly. I have tried several things I already own, mostly low powered tube and SS amps/preamps. Not real happy so far with the results, but I know these speakers are capable of great things. Based on my experience so far, they seem to want and need some real juice behind them, probably SS power. I know some are using tube gear with good success but my instincts tell me good ss may be needed to get the bass response and impact I am looking for. Odly enough my old Quad 303 amp colecting dust offered up some pretty good impact, just a little dated in some ways. This probably confirms my feelings regrding the need for SS and hefty power supply, which the Quad is known for. I also need some help with the correct size stands for these too. Any and all help is appreciated. BTW, room size is aprox-12x15x8 Thanks as always for your time.
Rlmm.
rlmm

Showing 2 responses by rlmm

Thanks for your advice so far on the 7's. I had actually forgotten about the Stratos, might be a good choice. I'm not that familiar with the Plinius line at all, however I have heard good things regarding the line in general. What preamps are you using with these SS amps. Think a nice tube pre would be a good choice or should I stay with a SS pre as well ? Everybody that has commented so far seems to support the fact that more power is better. Not so much for volume levels but I suspect for overall control, headroom, dynamics, that sort of thing. The 7's do seem to have great speed and pitch. I'm really surprised at their ability to play in a not so big room without getting out of hand. I did notice however on some bass extremes the 7's can exhibit (at least in my room with current gear) some odd kind of vibration in the drivers on a couple of odd bass notes or lower frequency drums at a little higher volume. This may well be because of not nearly enough power for good control over the drivers, etc. Any thoughts on that ? Could also just be the recording perhaps.
Rlmm.
Found out that little vibration I was hearing was actually a loose spike/nut on the bottom of the speaker stand. Turns out the spike and nut were vibrating slightly with deeper bass and low frequency information. Pays to check these things a little closer, Duh.