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Electronics for Harbeth, Especially Monitor 40 series

Hello,
Has anyone tried matching "fast" solid-state to the big Harbeths. Something like Goldmund, Soulution, Spectral, etc. The speakers have great tone but can be a little stodgy. I was wondering if this would open them up a bit. Also, has anyone tried using an LDR passive such as Tortuga or Lightspeed for the same reason
paullb
wolf_garcia
6,631 posts
 
I don't get the "speed" thing. I think tube amps are generally snappy, and am amused that somehow the term "speed' has been co-opted by reviewers and others who apparently have run out of adjectives. Like "metal drivers are faster"…no, they're not…expensive SS amps might have characteristics some find appealing, but actual music doesn't rely on horsepower or torque or sticky tires. When SS guitar amps attempted to worm their way into the Pro Guitar Player world, many tried them (including me) as they seemed interesting after decades of worrying about tubes exploding or needing replacement or whatever. To a man (or woman) pretty much everybody I knew, except bass players who need gigantic amounts of headroom, noticed a weird lack of instantaneous "picking" feel…I'm not sure why…but there was something just not kosher happening, even with the supposed Good Amps (Lab, Yamaha, Fender "London Reverb" stuff)…tubes feel snappy…that's maybe the most descriptive term I can come up with for an electric guitar player's feel requirements along with the usual tube "roundness," "grease," "they glow," "chicks dig it," (not 100% on the last one, but I digress), and tube amps simply continue to dominate the picker's world..snappy...
donjr
1,335 posts
 
The best review of my Accuphase E-600 was done by someone with the Harbeth M40.1. The Accuphase is expensive but it's not over priced. 
samuelg's avatar
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samuelg
59 posts
 
I own the 40.1. I love them. I use both the naim nait XS along with a flat cap and get very musical results. I also use a Plinius Hautonga that I like even better
larryi
3,771 posts
 

I hardly ever think of solid state amps as "fast" sounding.  To me, most of the better solid state amps sound just a touch lifeless when played at lower volume levels.  Speed and lower level dynamics are not the strengths of most of the better solid state amps I've heard. 

The 40.2s I heard were set up something like 10 ft from the wall and a little more than 3 ft from the side wall.  In that kind of wide open free space, the imaging was fantastic.  A lot of depth, decent center image specificity and a quite large and enveloping soundstage.  There is something about physically big speakers; they deliver a big sound--large soundstage, sound that seems to fill the room, and a kind of weight that works particularly well with large classical works.

paullb OP
120 posts
 
@Vinnie,

In an interview accompanying his recent TAS review, Paul Seydor says that he is always found Harbeths to be "notably coherent" and Alan Shaw replies that coherence is primarily a crossover issue. It doesn’t take much of a mismatch in level or phase for the listener to become aware that the sound is coming from three drivers. He has also said that the BBC got so many things right long ago that his recent work has focused on improving drive units (Radial) and crossovers. Guess that’s why they sound so good in the near field.
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