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Vandersteen 3A Sig vs Harbeth vs Spatial OB

Hello, I am a long time lurker, read a lot of the commentary here. I am considering upgrading my system after many years, notably the loudspeakers.

My system is: Sony SCD-1 SACD player, CJ Sonographe TT with Jelco 550 arm and Benz Glider HO, Jasmine LP2.5 phono stage, Audio Research VSi-55 integrated amp, Epos M22 floorstanding speakers. Wire is Cardas, Audioquest and QED. I also stream using a Elac unit feeding a Chord 2Qute using Tidal. I also have a nice Primare I-30 integrated, solid state amp that I use sometimes in place of the Audio Research.

I am thinking about upgrading speakers. I had Vandersteen 1b’s years ago, liked them alot, felt they were a little too smoothed but otherwise excellent. Also had Sonus Faber Concertinos with a Velodyne sub which I enjoyed.

Considering speakers in the $2000-2400 price range used, in my 16x19x9 carpeted room, which has room treatments.

Candidates are:

Vandersteen 3A Sigs - heard these at a friends home, driven by a Hegel amp, sounded wonderful.

Harbeth Compact 7 ESIII - very good reputation and reviews, I have heard smaller Harbeths before, sounds very nice, sweet and warm with excellent midrange.

Spatial Audio M4T or M5 open baffle speakers - I am wondering about these and their OB style, they have seen excellent reviews. I have not heard them.

My musical tastes are reasonably varied, from some classical to some pop vocals to some jazz/folk and big band. I really like my Epos speakers but they are getting a little old, sometimes with digital music the tweeter can be a little sharp, especially with more popular recordings.  I prefer a full sound, excellent voices and strong bass.

Any suggestions or ideas would be welcome.
troidelover1499
9 responses Add your response
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,794 posts
 
The Spatials from your list are the best options.

The musical choices have nothing to do with it. The simple fact is that Harbeths in general are designed for solid state and are usually not that easy to drive. You only have 50 watts and using the 4 ohm tap puts your amp at a disadvantage- since it may well lose an octave of performance in the bottom octave. The same can be said to a lessor degree of the Vandersteens, which have a low impedance in the bass.

The Spatials on the other hand are a very nice tube-friendly impedance and they are also noticeably more efficient. Their only disadvantage might be that they need to be about 5 feet from the wall behind them in order to do their best work.


Good Luck!
troidelover1499 OP
253 posts
 
Hello all, I appreciate the inputs given.
ryder
1,689 posts
 
Jjss49,

Based on this thread on Vandersteen vs Harbeth, I thought the latter would suit the OP better if digital music and tweeter sound sharp. The overall consensus is the Harbeth is a superior speaker. The C7ES3 is one of the strongest favourites among the models as I prefer it to the M30.1 and 30.2 for its overall balance.

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/report-on-harbeths-vs-vandersteens

I have no experience with Spatial but thought that WAF is not very good with that one. I understand it's all subjective though.
jackd
1,068 posts
 
I owned 3A Sigs for a number of years, currently own a pair of C7's and Spatial M3 Triode Masters among others.  While all have a similar tone profile that is where their similarities end.  While the C7's can certainly go closer to the rear wall than the other two they don't either require the space from the real wall that is bantered about in forums.  Either one will do quite well with their front baffles 32-36" from the rear wall and 24-32" from the side walls.  I would lean toward the Vandie first and the Spatial second if you have never experienced an open baffle speaker and don't want to take the chance on finding it too different than you are used to. In your room I think the older M4's and the newer M5's are too small for your room and if you go in that direction find a pair of the M3TM's on the used market or look at the larger M3 Sapphires.  Just the opinion of someone who has actually had all of them in his system.
jjss49's avatar
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jjss49
6,612 posts
 
@ryder 

if you are recommending the harbeths you might say why... other than you like them

did you hear the others he is considering, or have insight into the differences?

i too have harbeth c7's - they are great - but for this poster, who seems pretty experienced with good gear i stop short of just saying == 'get those and be done'...
ryder
1,689 posts
 
I'd get the Harbeth C7ES3 and call it a day.
jjss49's avatar
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jjss49
6,612 posts
 
op, i think tomic says it well

all three you are considering are good speakers with different baskets of strengths and weaknesses, but it seems to me the trio of choices are well chosen given your musical preferences and ancillaries

i know the spatials need a lot of room to breathe, so depends if you can get away with having the speakers well into the room - i myself am getting a fresh pair of m3 sapphires very shortly to try - i too have been wondering for some time what all the fuss is about with the open baffle speakers... i have dipole quads esl63’s (and big maggies in the past) but since then i have done all box speakers - proacs harbeths spendors atc's mostly, yes bass from a box speaker has a certain character no doubt

iirc bigger vandy’s need quite some room to breathe too, probably the c7’s the least among your 3
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,911 posts
 
3 very different speakers all w relative strengths. I also had a pair of SF Concertino... that is a well executed forgiving but musical
tweeter... I am a known Vandersteen fan, owned 3a signature for many years of enjoyment- make sure they come w sound anchors and do biwire IF you go that way. Have fun, enjoy the music :-))) and the journey 
soix
9,456 posts
 
I’d strongly consider the LSA-20 Signatures being offered here by the manufacturer for $2500, and they offer a 30-day trial period that is obviously very helpful.  Read the reviews, but I think these would give you everything you’re looking for and more.  Best of luck. 
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