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Pairing NAD Masters & Harbeth [poss. SHL5+ or 40.2]

Good Morning,  I'm new to the Audiogon Forum but have been on here reading/buying for a while.

My question is pretty basic: I have the NAD M12 & M22 and they're currently hooked up to some average B & W bookshelves and Klipsch sub [bored and dissappointed].  To make a long story short, I've been looking at and listening to Harbeths [5's or 40.'s] for a few years and may finally be ready to spend the money. I listen to classic rock, some jazz, a lot of classical and a lot of Billy McLaughlin.


Would the M12 & M22 work well with the Harbeth SHL5+ or 40.'s?  Would I really enjoy my music again?

Anyone have this set up or an experience pairing the two?

Hope for some feedback :)


talc2471
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,318 posts
 

Even more than with most audio topics, there's a real lack of consensus over what kind/power of amp pairs best with Harbeth, particularly SLH5 and 40.2.  Take a look over, for instance, at the Harbeth User Group website, or other threads here.

Several people point out that you often see H shown with Luxman.  Vinnie Rossi's amps also produced wonderful results.

The only generalization that seems to hold is that a bunch of people report good results from a really widely differing range of amps.

audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,787 posts
 
mgrif we did tell the OP that his NAD pieces would work we just let him know that even better gear would make the speakers perform even better.

Dave and Troy
AUdio Doctor NJ
talc2471 OP
4 posts
 
Thank you to all for your replies.  To mgrif104's point, I already own my NAD stuff and I'm generally happy with the stuff.  Once my kids are off to college I will be looking to upgrade.   Nonetheless, I appreciate your feedback and it pretty much confirmed my intuition [there's a thousand amp's & dac's better....but this will work well...but you should buy this...lol]. 

So to the deeper question, the SHL5, SHL5plus, or the jump to the 40.2?  I have a decent size and my wife will hate how they look no matter which one I buy [haha].  I'm leaning toward the SHL5plus. 

I'm looking for general feedback as my closest dealer is over 2 hours away.  
talc2471 OP
4 posts
 
I don't have a decent size wife..."I have a decent size room" [20 x 24]. lmao 
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,787 posts
 
OP if your wife doesn't like the look of the Harbeths maybe you should check out other speakers your wife might like the look of.

The 40 are much better suited for the size of your room.

Legacy loudspeakers the Signature is a very smooth loudspeaker has very deep  bass, sounds fantastic with the NAD gear and is an $8k loudspeaker and can come in many finishes, will also fill up a big room superbly.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Legacy and NAD Masters dealers
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