After reading through most comments from Harbeth owners, I concur with the notion that the Harbeth will work well with most good amplifiers out there. In other words, the sonic difference between good amps will be subtle at best. You will gain a little here and there and then lose some. If one already has a good amp that matches well with the Harbeth, I think it is more worthwhile to concentrate more on the source to obtain a more appreciable sonic difference. I tried a better phonostage on my analog setup just recently and was astounded by the degree of improvements it made to the sound.
What amplifier for Harbeth HL-5?
I recently bought a pair of Harbeth HL-5, and I think they are just great speakers: great midrange, great (but not excessive) detail, overall addictive. I currently drive them with a Shindo Monbrison preamp and an EAR 890 power amp. I also tried my second system's amplifier, an EAR 859, and despite its low power (13WPC), it drives them very well. Actually, it is hard to tell the difference between the EAR 859 and the Monbrison + EAR 890 combination, except that the former is slightly more forward. But my ears could hear very little difference between the two systems, which is surprising given the significant price difference. Since I think that I will keep them for a while, I would be curious to hear others' experiences with electronics for the HL-5.
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- 28 posts total
- 28 posts total