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My Harbeth C7ES-3 story...

I’ve been using Zu Omen DW’s for the past 2yrs and really enjoy them.

every time I go to RMAF I find myself enjoying the Harbeth and Spendor speakers, so I started researching them, stumbled upon the “bbc midrange magic” touted and everything thing I read pointed to something I thought I’d like.

my first step was to grab a pair of used Spendor S3/5’s. My thinking was if I enjoyed them I would then look for a bigger style. I was first looking at the Spendor A4 and A6R’s and as I kept reading I ran across the Harbeths. In particular the C7ES3 (Compact 7’s).

At this point I had researched like crazy and had my eye on a pair of used Spendor A6R’s. It was really hard to find used C7’s so I was leaning towards the Spendors.

I had a work trip coming up to Toronto and one day the week before as I’ve been scouring the audio marts a pair of C7’s popped up, and low and behold they were in Toronto!! 1 mile from the hotel I was staying. So I pinged the guy and we started talking. Told him I’ll be in town etc. so I setup a time to go over to his house. They were mint condition with original boxes, consecutive serials etc so I grabbed them! Best part the dollar is strong against Canadian so ended up getting them for 50% off new.

Another great part is the boxes are not too big and was able to check them in on the plane, so shipped them back with me for $60.

Got them home and now I have them setup on some Skylans.

my biggest fear was the low end was not going to be full enough but boy was I wrong. First impressions from just 1hr of listening... the Zu’s will be hitting the market. Everyone says the Zu’s are very forward which I was fine with and they have their place, but after hearing the magic sound of the Harbeths it suits my style better.

I’ll follow up with more impressions later.
128x128kray
pokey77
1,260 posts
 
First off, congrats on having such a fun time. The 7s are a great speaker.

For me though, they are bested by the 30.2s and SHL5+. I like either speaker quite a bit. But the 30.2 with a Line Magnetic 805 iA tube integrated, Gold Note two-box phono pre, Gold Note table with their MC cart and Nordost wire is pretty amazing. You mentioned midrange and this combo really plays midrange sublimely. Not saying there's no bass or top end, because they are very much there, but the midrange is just killer.
kray's avatar
kray OP
229 posts
 
So got the LFD mk IV today. Let it warm up for a couple hours play. The Audiolab 8300a is a great value at $1300 new (even better used/open box price) but

the LFD definitely beats the 8300a. Just better dynamics from top to bottom. I always felt the top end extension wasn’t quite there on the 8300a. No issues there with the LFD.

Belles Aria supposed to arrive tomorrow. Sending back the 8300a so it will be a shootout just between the Aria and LFD.

LFD is so far a definite keeper. Can’t really find a fault in it yet. So it’s the one to beat.

this is all with the RME ADI-2 DAC. Interestingly I’ll have a Schiit Gungnir Multibit Gen5 DAC to test with in next couple days as well. Word is it’s soundstage is bigger than RME. If that’s true I’ll be a happy audiophool
gcknapp
52 posts
 
Any updates?
kray's avatar
kray OP
229 posts
 
trying to get some dedicated time in and going back and forth between the Belles and LFD, changing connections etc. 

it's been really diifficult to tell much of a difference between these two. I wanna say the LFD is just a small tad fuller sounding right now.. using some test tracks. 

Everything right now is Qobuz streaming over Ethernet to Microrendu via Roon. 

The build quality on both is good, but definite edge goes to LFD. It's solid as a rock. Kinda deceiving too via pictures it looks unassuming but feels high quality in person.

I'll have some more time during the week and weekend to test more... then Thurs I get the Schiit Gungnir MB DAC to compare to my RME.. fun times lots of stuff to test 
archguy's avatar
archguy
45 posts
 
Good discussion. And timely for me as I’m in the market for new speakers too.  Looking at Harbeth, Spendor, and Magnepan 3.7s as well. One issue is that all of the speakers I’m looking at want to be three or four feet out into the listening space and that’s sometimes hard to achieve.

You mentioned Canada which was interesting as they seem to be getting the equivalent price to what you would pay in the U.K. as opposed to a pretty stiff mark up in the States. For example, last I looked the 30.2s are $6,950 in the US and $6,400 CAD in Canada--at current rate $4,840 US!


I wonder why US import is getting such jacked up pricing?

It’s the same with high-end Japanese amps: the US dealer prices are sky-high compared to overseas (Europe even). My guess is that the dollar remains strong and especially the US economy remains strong. This results in tremendous ’effective demand’ domestically which means that dealers can take profits.

Buying in Canada is tempting, though when you cross the border there can sometimes be dues to pay to the customs agent. You don’t want to be caught not declaring something.



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