Please your ears- Harbeths Please the wife- with Rosewood finish
New house, wife reveals she hates my Maggies- looking for stand mount speaker suggestions
Just closed on a new house and as we were walking through and discussing furniture, my wife revealed she has always hated my Maggies and wants them not to make the move. I have had a semi-dedicated music room, so they were kind of out of sight at our old place, so she never complained. So a bad news but good news (new speakers!) situation.
Present set up is near field, room perhaps 10x10,but partially open, angled ceilings for some pretty good acoustics. Should be able to set up similar size near field space in new home.
Amp is Primaluna HP with 8xEL34, Conrad Johnson ET7 tube preamp, PS Audio Direct stream DAC and Naim Uniti digital ripper/hard drive. I listen to lots of different music, but always come back to acoustic guitar or piano with female or male vocalists, or acoustic jazz. Big soundstage, vocal warmth and detail (guitar strings plucking) are what I enjoy.
My Wife liked (the looks of) my old Rogers LS3/5a back in the day, or my Reference 3a Royal Masters. So I figure I will be looking for a stand mount monitor. But my budget is $5-10k, used or new, so I suspect I can do better than the LS3/5a.
i have always loved the Joseph Audio Pulsars, but you never see them used and the new graphine ones are out of my price range. Looking for other ideas: Sonus Faber are easy to look at, but I have never listened to their monitors. The monitor versions of Raidho and Focals are ugly enough to fail the WAF test.
so help me out here- what should I consider?
106 responses Add your response
@goldenways Which Harbeths? Many different models out there. Did not like the P3esr many years ago, but I know they have many larger/better models… |
Sonner Legato Unum.https://pt.audio/2020/12/18/sonner-audio-legato-unum-loudspeaker-review/ |
@foggyus91 never heard of them. They do look beautiful! Website glitches when I look to find a dealer. Anything else you can tell me about where I might hear them? |
We had the same issue back in the 1990’s. I wanted the Quad ESL-63s with the Gradient subwoofers below them. An hour later we saw the Sonus Faber Electa Amator (original version/stand-mounted) speakers. My wife said, "Let’s get those". We’ve had them ever since and I doubt that we will ever sell them. Treat yourself, you’ll never regret it! |
You need to identify the sound you prefer. So far I would say your upstream components would tend toward the warm and rich. I am shocked that you were album to get anything out of your maggies with your tube amp. Hard speaker to drive properly. Stay small if you buy a Harbeth. The smaller the size of the cabinet, on this type of speaker, the less colored the sound in my experience. |
I sold off all my “high end” stuff besides my JL F113. |
Had detail info then lost it. I’ve had this happen to me before. On IPad switching to something and or walking away for the moment lost it all. Harbeth Super HL5+ XD Be careful of model numbers for there are variations over the years. Very easy to mess up. Looks the new ones on their website are XD2. I’m sure mine were the latest before for XD2 Audiogon, The Music Room and US Audio Mart have them listed. TMR will work with you on price - consider sales tax though. If you’re entertaining the thought of studying Harbeth again study the model numbers. Hitting the send button now before something comes up. |
So many great standmounts: already mentioned Alta, Joseph…and I’d add Borresen and Marten. But…if I were in your position I’d look at the new Virtual Hifi Viper or the upcoming Cobra. Super intriguing. You’d probably have to rethink your amp but you deserve it since you have to part with your Maggies. Check out 6moons if you’re at all interested. Keep us posted. |
@ericsch ”I think the SHL would be too much of a good thing” Well said. 10x10 seems to be near field. @meiatflask I’d review the thought of P3esr. Was that in your current system you heard them? Sterophile has a 2024 write up on the XD |
https://www.sonusfaber.com/en/products/olympica-nova-i
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Looks like these guys are selling the Pulsars at the top of your price range so maybe worth a call… https://nowlistenhere.net/speakers/joseph-audio-pulsar2-graphene |
Always been curious about this speakers. They certainly looks beautiful. https://www.canuckaudiomart.com/details/650241346-franco-serblin-accordo-walnut/
What you like sonically is a personal choice. They come up for sale for $7000-$8000 used. skc
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…a little less known brand but equally well contructed and beautiful. https://www.chariohifi.com/ACADEMY_SONNET SKC |
Another option although unless you know someone who has them you have to buy unheard but with a 30 day return option, the Clarity 6.2 speakers. They get unanimous rave reviews both from reviewers and buyers. I've heard them. They are excellent, small with sub 40 Hz bass, superb imaging and great openness and detail. They are a tad bright but that can be handled by listening a tiny way off axis. And the size is probably wife friendly(8.74 x 14.33 x 10.47 inches. |
Response D2 / R / D - ProAc |
I always felt that a floor stander takes no more room than a stand mount so why bother? But visually, stand mounts are more appealing and have a much smaller 'visual' footprint. I had large floor standers in our Kitchen / Family room. Tried a pair of Dynaudio Confidence 20's in the light grey wood. WAF is off the charts, and they sound better! They do love some nice power but fit in the room so nicely and scale amazingly well in the large room. |
Joseph Audio uses Richard Modafferi's patented Infinite Slope Crossover for his top models including the Pulsar, and they do sound terrific. These are the original JSE Model 2's that use that crossover, and also RM's Phase Shift patent to get both extended and clean lows.
I heard/wanted/got/loved them for years, until I went back to my current inherited horns/15" woofer/tube setup, gave them to my son, they were too big for his wife, a friend has them now. Seller calls these Rosewood, however I believe they are Walnut veneer stained reddish. I would put white linen (just a lot of staples on a wood frame), and it would be easy to pick a new veneer with the wife if you both agree they are worth it.
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If you liked the planar sound. Then I would look for speakers with Air Motion Transducers (AMT or Heil). They are kind of like folded Maggies for the high and mid frequencies. This will help you through, by giving you the liquid mids and high of the ribbon speakers. You can just google speakers with Air Motion Transducers. If you want to move on from planar. I did. I realize as great a sound as planar gave, I wanted a more natural and musical sound. Your electronics are well set up for that. I prefer Sonus Faber (you like listening to the music and not your system)... they have many different stand mounted models. If you want more precise and a bit more audiophile sounding (you like listening to your system a bit more) then DynAudio. If you want a bit more happy, punchy, fun to listen to sound ( a bit less audiophile), have a look at Totem. |
Check out the Wolf von Langa SERENDIPITY+. Won pt.audio’s Reviewer’s Choice award recently: https://pt.audio/2025/03/21/wolf-von-langa-serendipity-loudspeakers-review/
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OP site works fine for me, but here is their email and there maybe a dealer near you in Northern IL. info@sonneraudio.com |
Ahhhhh! So many good suggestions to look into. Gosh, I love the Audiogon community. I planned to responded back to each person individually with follow on questions, but need to do some research first. So THANKS to everyone. Lots of clicking and looking to do! Such an opportunity. 😀 And keep them coming! |
Compared the Harbeth 5, C7 and 30s. The C7 is the sweet spot. Less monitor sounding, more open, more transparent. Biggest soundstage. Much better low end than the 30s. My room is 17x15’ and the C7s sound wonderful. That midrange with a silky smooth high end and a low end with output down to the mid 30s are all I need. Listen to Classical, Soundtracks and Jazz These speakers have a big sound.
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