Harbeth Radial Driver - How Good?

the shl5's could make use of 200w per channel amp-no probem.
although, they can work well with amps that have 50w or so.
harbeths are very easy to please in terms of amplifications.
am sure the 200w linn would give them a good workout.
bass will be tight and articulate.
I've heard them driven with that much power & its very good.
the c7es3 would be easier to drive, 100w per channel would be tops i would drive them with, but its not to say that 150w-200w wouldnt work with them. But i heard these speakers driven with 12w EL84s and they also sound very good.
good luck!

Ditto the advice from Nolitan. Your 12' x 14' room should accomodate either speaker wihout a problem. A 200 WPC Linn amp is overkill, but will work fine. I recently downsized from the $20K Dynaudio C4 to the $13K Harbeth M-40.1's and have not looked back with any regret. The Harbeth sound is non-fatiguing and sounds great at low to moderate volumes, unlike many other speakers that need the volume cranked up to sound their best.

I've gone a similar path as Pdreher. I went from the Thiel CS7.2s to the SHL5s and have had no regrets. They are not very picky about amplification or room.

Ditto on the above. Harbeth is one of the few that will sound good with virtually about any amp out there, your Linn inclusive. Also, Harbeth is one of the few that people may have chosen to replace costlier speakers. Usually folks would find satisfaction upgrading from lesser(and cheaper) speakers, not so with the Harbeth. The designer always stresses on good engineering at real down-to-earth prices of his products and doesn't advocate the use of high-end electronics to drive his speakers to attain good sound. As such, most discerning music lovers are able to enjoy the sound of the Harbeth at realistic down-to-earth prices. I was told that some folks have settled on the Harbeth after having owned speakers costing up to 3X more. It is good to note that there are real examples of such people here.

And yes, the proprietary Radial driver manufactured in-house in the Harbeth UK factory is one of the key ingredients that contributes to the warm and fresh Harbeth sound.

I moved from Harbeth to Dynaudio, just to balance out the conversation a little. :-)

Drubin, I guess you had some paint that needed peeling :)

Really? You find Dynaudio that way? Because I don't, not at all.

I wish we could sit down for a listen....I wouldn't have made my comment, but earlier you asked about ditching your Linn table for a Sota, and now this? :)