Who's using Harbeth with tubes, what speaker model and how many watts per channel?

I own the 40.2 Annie’s and I just upgraded my Berning LTA amp to the Berning Quadrature z which is 220 wpc.  Whoa!!! is the only adj to describe the impact but only on certain songs have I noticed a significant increase in dynamics. 

Update: I ended up buying the Luxman 550 AX/II to drive my Compact 7 ES gen 3's. It was pretty good, but I've since moved on. I'm thinking tubes, but as suggested above, I'm feeling there should be some power on tap. Maybe 75 watts using KT 88's, or more w/ KT 150's. I was really thinking about selling this system, but I want to give the C 7's another shot. 

I use 2 MC275 VI's strapped mono with my 40.3's...and the sound is amazing...although bass has become less defined and the overall sound has less impact compared to other SS monoblocks I have used with them in the past (MC601's).  It really is give and take.  You want more impact from your 40.x Harbeths, feed them high current...they never felt strained one bit with my 601's.  If you want a warmer midrange with softer highs, go tubes.

harbeths imo do best with solid state due to their desire for strong woofer control/damping factor, so tube amp aficianados are well advised to use tube amps that provide that...  an extended treble response from the amp benefits the speaker too, as they tend to add warmth of the music played through them

@fjn04 

i had the c73s3 with the rogue audio cronus magnum ii.  one of the best sounding systems i have owned or heard, i could easily sell everything and go back, i know someone that did!  

rogue builds their amps with dynamics and slam, their trademark.  the 100 wpc kt 120s get it done.  

I've owned SHL5's, 40.1's (twice) and now 40.2 Anni's... and I've never been satisfied driving them with solid state and always come back to tube amps.  My current amp (vintage Music Reference RM9 MK2 with RFT EL34's) has stayed with me the longest of any amp... 5 years.  

@pdreher 

roger m's rm9 is one helluva tube amp, had one long ago, always regretted selling it (though my sore back does not hehehe)... that superb amp has nuance and balls too, one of the few tube amps that can match what the better audio research tube amps can accomplish -- not surprised they do well with the big harbeths!  

rip roger...

Well... I'm a bit surprised... I got the Hegel H590 to drive my 30.1's and 40.2's, because when I first tried them with the AR Ref 5SE and Ref 150SE tube amps, the Harbeths seemed to lack clarity and dynamics, and had somewhat boomy bass.  The H590 cleared all of that up, and really made the Harbeths sound like they do in the YouTube videos - which is exceptional!

However, I recently decided to try the AR amps again with both sets of Harbeths and was surprised that after some burn in, they began to excel with the AR amps - especially when using the 16 ohm speaker taps.  Amazing actually with a bit more air and bloom than with the H590 - much as you would expect from a Class A tube set up.  And the bass is well controlled, with texture.  Pretty amazing, actually!

I almost think I like their sound better with the AR tube amps, than with the H590.  Will have to switch back and forth a bit and see... but... right now... I'm truly amazed at the sound they're producing with the tube amps!  

 

Oh yes... the AR150SE produces 150 watts into 8 ohms.  Just assumed everyone knew that.  The Harbeths never require more than about 1/3rd of the potential - POT usually is not set above 35/100, which produces a volume level more than most can tolerate.   

I did not expect that the 150SE would drive the relatively inefficient Harbeths so well.  But... the AR does.

I'm using Manley Snappers (100w per side monoblocks) sounds amazing. 

 

disclaimer : also using (2) 18" subs powered by a Crown Macro-tech 2400 and a BSS X-over 🥳

I am playing my Harbeth 30.2 XDs through an ARC 160S. No issues at all although the sound really opened up compared to the solid state LFD I was using previousl.