I just received my long-awaited Super HL5+ Anniversary in Tamo Ash. I'm in the middle of a similar 'honeymoon' to the one described by the OP.
Frankly, I was worried that my expectations had inflated with the wait and I would be disappointed. Instead I was positively surprised. They are such a pleasure to listen to. Highly revealing, big soundstage, lush, warm, and detailed all at the same time. I knew they would do chamber music well from the audition. What surprises me is how great they are with orchestra and big band. I can both hear the timbre of the instruments *and* the scale of the ensemble. A big Maggie-like image, just as smooth and coherent as the Thiels. It's really uncanny.
A dealer suggested that I only liked the Harbeths (over his models) because of the megabucks electronics in front of them at the dealer. Nope. Memory is unreliable, of course, but I like them even better here at home, with my 30 year-old amp, than I did in the dealer showroom
Could it be because the dealer demos were not the anniversary models? Anything's possible, there are a few non-cosmetic differences. Or maybe a random quark interacted with the idiotic "quantum harmonizer" blocks he had on top of them, causing them to malfunction and quantum disorganize instead. We'll never know!
The fact that they are a manageable size, weight, and visual impression is a huge bonus. The wife is pleased, although she keeps pushing them back against the wall. At least it doesn't take a forklift to move them back.
system:
Cambridge Audio Edge NQ balanced out to
Adcom GFA5802, Analysis Plus cables.
Streaming from Minimserver and Qobuz over ethernet.
Incidentally, the Edge NQ is a very clean and solid sounding DAC. It is a bit of mystery what sort of filtering they are using, but they confirmed it is non-oversampling, which is a departure from all of their other models. It's a good match for the Harbeth in the sense that it is warm entirely without bloat or loss of detail.
Anybody interested in some 1993-4 Thiel CS3.6s?
Frankly, I was worried that my expectations had inflated with the wait and I would be disappointed. Instead I was positively surprised. They are such a pleasure to listen to. Highly revealing, big soundstage, lush, warm, and detailed all at the same time. I knew they would do chamber music well from the audition. What surprises me is how great they are with orchestra and big band. I can both hear the timbre of the instruments *and* the scale of the ensemble. A big Maggie-like image, just as smooth and coherent as the Thiels. It's really uncanny.
A dealer suggested that I only liked the Harbeths (over his models) because of the megabucks electronics in front of them at the dealer. Nope. Memory is unreliable, of course, but I like them even better here at home, with my 30 year-old amp, than I did in the dealer showroom
Could it be because the dealer demos were not the anniversary models? Anything's possible, there are a few non-cosmetic differences. Or maybe a random quark interacted with the idiotic "quantum harmonizer" blocks he had on top of them, causing them to malfunction and quantum disorganize instead. We'll never know!
The fact that they are a manageable size, weight, and visual impression is a huge bonus. The wife is pleased, although she keeps pushing them back against the wall. At least it doesn't take a forklift to move them back.
system:
Cambridge Audio Edge NQ balanced out to
Adcom GFA5802, Analysis Plus cables.
Streaming from Minimserver and Qobuz over ethernet.
Incidentally, the Edge NQ is a very clean and solid sounding DAC. It is a bit of mystery what sort of filtering they are using, but they confirmed it is non-oversampling, which is a departure from all of their other models. It's a good match for the Harbeth in the sense that it is warm entirely without bloat or loss of detail.
Anybody interested in some 1993-4 Thiel CS3.6s?