Sorry Gents, sources are: Macintosh C2600, 452, Furman Elite reference, Lumin T2, Nad turntable... I have around 3k invested into room treatment etc etc. |
My room is 13 wide x 20 long... I've played around with placement for about 6 months and found the cardas method to be best for over all recommendations. I have atleast 3k + in room treatment: bass traps, combo panels on side walls, rear wall treated, as well diffusers (all GIK.) My current cables are bluejeans, with audioquest red river XLR's across all connections. I've tried towing them out, back, raising them up, etc etc you name it... |
I gotta say these Harbeths & Spendors you guys have recommended really are catching my attention. They seem to really check all the boxes I'm looking for, but can they handle modern pop music as well heavy rock? |
I'm extremely familiar with measurements, but don't feel that I should have to / want to trade out tride and true equipment for the sake of a bright speaker. I use REW for my theater system, and am very versed with it. Honestly I want a simple system that does not require so much toil & boil outside of the normal placement, cables etc etc... Magnapans would not work for my application |
Thank you for all your recommendations...
Prior to my Mcintosh C2600 / 452 I was a very happy Parasound JC2 / A21 owner. I found my A21 at loud volumes to clip /distort the Focal's in the midrange at high volumes. I then in-home demonstrated the JC1, Gato (class D), and some cables, new DACS...
My thought process was regarding the brightness: try a tube / solid state combo to add some warmth. That did help, or so I thought. I've spent days upon days playing around with room treatment etc etc.
This speaker is just extremely detailed / bright, and it's very exhausting to hear.
I'm really interested in the Harbeth / Spendors mentioned, but going from so much detail to the other spectrum has me concerned. |
Rather than swap out equipment or run separate software do you guys think adding the mcintosh men220 to my system would help?
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My current combo is mcintosh c2600 tube pre with solid state 452: would going full tube help out at all tube pre/amp? I just never see this combo? |
I know the folks at Audio video therapy well & have previewed many speakers in house. I actually just visited Fidelis two days ago. Unfortunately he was sold out of everything I wanted to hear, but I will be back when stock rolls back in. |
Just thought I'd update all of you chaps.
Sold my Focal's, feeling a little bittersweet about it, but time moves on.
So far I've auditioned the Focal Spectral 40th, Harbeth 40.3, Sonus Faber heritage iii.
Question: obviously there is a difference between the harbeth 40.1 / 2 and 3rs. I believe I've been told the 40.2 share pretty much the same components as the 3's. Obviously I'm not selling out 18k for a new pair of 3's, so I'm leaning towards the used market. I've found a great price on the 40.1's, but searching a little deeper and opening up my wallet a little more I could land a pair of the 40.2s... So my question is: would I regret buying the 40.1's and not going for the 40.2's?
By the way hearing the harbeth 40.3 was a life changing experience. I was also Extremely impressed with the sonus faber heritage iii, and the focal spectral 40's where also very impressive
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Soooooo would it be fair to say that in a well treated room I'd be fine with the 40.1's
Room size 13W x 20L (speakers on short wall) |
Prior to my Lumin T2 the brightness / fatigue was actually worse. Prior Dac's were Topping D90, Bluesound Node 2, and if course the Dac in my mac. The Lumin takes a very long time to break in, for me 3 straight weeks of playing.
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I wanted to thank each and every one of you for the great advice. I've learned so much through this thread, and my knowledge of different brands etc etc is 10 fold what it was.
With that said my journey has finally come to an end. I pulled the trigger on a beautiful pair of Harbeth 40.2 anniversaries.
Thank you you all. |
I did not....
System: Mcintosh C2600, Mcintosh 452, Furman Elite reference 20, Lumin T2, Nad Record player, Audioquest cables |
I found a few speakers in my original planned budget. Of course things evolved for me after some demo sessions, and of course recommendations. As Mentioned: the Focal Spectral's checked all the boxes I was looking for. I demo pair was selling for 7600... The Sonus Faber heritage iii really blew me away, 10k with the stands included I thought this was a great deal. But after hearing The Harbeths I felt like that was a life changing experience for MY ears. |
The Spectral’s beat out every part of the Midrange VS the Electra’s... Of course the Electra’s dug a little deeper in the bottom end, but what an extraordinary midrange the Spectral’s have. I even had the chance to compare the Spectral’s against the Sopra 3’s, and I strongly believe the midrange in the Spectral’s bested them.
I would consider the Harbeths to sound rich, full, engulfing. The bass was like nothing I've heard before... Don't get me wrong not one specific factein on the deep end bested any top end speakers I've heard, but there was just something about it that sounded so different that I absolutely loved. After hearing one track I walked out of the room seriously thinking about what I just heard, and if my mind was jacked up from a little more caffeine than I needed. I then walked back in, played 5 or songs and honestly I never wanted to leave that room.
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