There have been several threads of late on amps to drive Harbeths. Short summary: there is no easy answer. Take a look. That being said, you would probably have been better off with the 30.8 for a bit more oomph.
More power for moderate listening levels?
Hi,
I can't seem to find good information regarding the effect of relatively high powered amps on low to moderate listening levels. I have a low powered class A amp that sounds wonderful at moderate volumes but not surprisingly shows signs of strain when cranked up. I am contemplating an upgrade that would bring much more power to solve this problem. However, since I don't play music really loud that often I'm wondering if the upgrade is really all that necessary. It would be worth it if the reserve power of the new amplifier improved sound quality at all levels.
Thanks for your help,
Brian
I can't seem to find good information regarding the effect of relatively high powered amps on low to moderate listening levels. I have a low powered class A amp that sounds wonderful at moderate volumes but not surprisingly shows signs of strain when cranked up. I am contemplating an upgrade that would bring much more power to solve this problem. However, since I don't play music really loud that often I'm wondering if the upgrade is really all that necessary. It would be worth it if the reserve power of the new amplifier improved sound quality at all levels.
Thanks for your help,
Brian
Showing 3 responses by twoleftears
@atmasphere Here's Stereophile's test of the Harbeth SLH5 plus. https://www.stereophile.com/content/harbeth-super-hl5plus-loudspeaker-measurements It drops to 6 ohms at one point, and just below 6 ohms at another point. But for much of the range it is over 8, and for some of the range significantly over 8. With the degree of variation of impedance that one can see in the plot, how does one assign a nominal single value in ohms to describe the impedance of this speaker? |