Here is a follow up to my original post from December.
I had been thinking a lot about the NCSE 3 but kep't holding off because I had just bought my Harbeth 40.2's and needed to absorb the cost of those before changing out any components.
In January I found a local seller who had a LFD LE IV SE for a very good price so I bought that and started playing around with it. After some tweaking I really started to like it a lot, but was still intrigued by the NCSE 3. I called Gene Rubin and asked if I could trade up to that amp using my other LFD amp, and he offered me a deal I couldn't pass up.
I've had the NCSE 3 for about a week now and all I can say is this is the finest sounding amplifier I have ever heard. All the great things I had heard about it from others is true.
Sorry I'm not a professional reviewer so I don't have the vocab for that type of thing, but one thing I do know that with this amp the music now sounds right to me. Everything is in balance as it has never been before. This amp really brings out the best in the Harbeth speakers. It's such a satisfying sound.
The thing to keep in mind is that LFD amps sound their best when using all LFD cables. I purchased their speaker wire, power cord and RCA interconnects and after swapping them from what I had been using they made a huge improvement in the sound. I know the wire agnostics will poop on this statement but I know what I hear and there is no way the other wires sound anywhere near as good as the LFD wires.
I'm very happy I made the change to the LFD amp. I'd love to hear this amp with some other speakers for comparison, but I have no desire to upgrade now. This is not a familiar feeling for me. It feels good.