You could look at a used Parasound Halo integrated they come with everything except the streamer which he could purchase separately.
help me help my friend?
Hello audiophiles!
I have a good friend and colleague who just retired a few years ago, and he is now moving into a townhome and wanting to set up an audio system on a reasonable budget. I’m looking for help in how to best advise him.
His speakers—which I think have been out of commission for a bit—he would like to keep at least for a while. These are the Harbeth HL-P3es-2 [these are the precursors to the P3esr]. I think he purchased them in 2004 or so.
The room is about 15 feet by 20 feet with very high ceilings.
I love Harbeth speakers but here is my thinking—those speakers are fairly old and that room is a bit on the big side for them. So ideally I would like to help him find his way to an amplifier that will work great with these speakers now, but will also be a great choice if in a few years he wants to get a slightly bigger speaker for this room.
He’ll also just be streaming Tidal. I’m thinking of suggesting a Bluesound Node 2i and have him use its internal DAC for now-so run this unit directly into the amplifier.
Which leaves the question of the amplifier. I think I am most drawn to the Rogue Sphinx V3, which I believe works very well with Harbeth speakers. If he wanted to eventually upgrade his existing speakers, he could pair the Rogue amplifier with Wharfdale Lintons, or used Harbeth c7s or used Monitor 30.1s. Or perhaps the Elac Carina. All would pair very well with Rogue. (As would the Zu Dirty Weekends, although I am not sure his wife would go for that. This is the living room.)
But I’ve also thought about the Rega Elex, or the Belles Aria, or the Croft Phono Integrated. (My concern with the latter is if it’s too low power in this pretty good sized room, and I’m also wondering beyond the famed Harbeth match, what else that Croft really sings with?
My question for this crowd is am I on the right track with the Rogue Sphinx v3? Should I be thinking of other options?
If you had roughly $2,000 to 2,500 to set up a friend in a room like this—with streamer/dac/amplifier—and he wanted to utilize his existing Harbeth speakers for now but also keep the door open for a speaker upgrade down the road, what would you advise?
Thanks!
Margot
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I have a pair of P3ESR myself (in my desktop system), so I understand why your friend doesn’t want to part with them. They are really nice speakers that sound great on most things. But I’ve never tried them in a room as large as 15 x 20 x high. I added a sealed, powered subwoofer to my pair, and it gives them more "oomph" without disturbing their excellent timbre reproduction. That’s just something to think about if the room seems a bit much for them to handle. My sub is a B&W ASW610, bought used 7 yrs ago, but still in production. Something more modern from SVS (e.g.) might work even better. Your friend is lucky to have your help. Good luck with the items you asked about. The Parasound integrated was recommended, and I’ve not heard a bad word about it anywhere -- unusual in audio land! |
I agree that he should keep his speakers. Once positioned with a system that serves, one can always find a speaker that mates with ones amplifier and room and makes for a better presentation. Use of subwoofer(s) can help. The Node seems to be a good starting point for streaming Tidal. reportedly easy to operate. One could always upgrade from it's internal DAC. Or use the DAC internal to an integrated amp, as in the Parasound Halo. I can't speak to the Rogue vs. Halo as a pairing for the speakers. |