A move from Harbeth to... Wilson?


Hi gang, hoping for some thoughts. 

I'm very happy at the moment with my system, but getting a slight itch for an upgrade. So many options and directions I could go, but the one I'm pondering at the moment is moving from my Harbeth C7ES-3 speakers to Wilson Sabrinas. (The Sabrina X is now out, which may bring the Sabrina down to my budget... maybe.)

My room is approx. 10'6" x 15'6" with the speakers along the short wall and my listening chair is about 2/3 back from said wall. The C7s plus their stands are just about the right size for this room, and the Sabrinas on their floor spikes are similar in "overall" size, though obviously the speakers themselves are bigger.

Current amp is a Pass Labs XA30.5 which doubles down at 4Ohms (plus lots of headroom) and comes just within Wilson's "recommended" amplifier power. The room is on the smaller side, and I don't listen loud; I've never "wanted" for more power with the C7s. (Though every once in a while I wonder what a pair of XA60.5s would sound like in here, but that's an entirely different thread.)

Eh? Any thoughts?
128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xdon_chisholm
If you get a change, I’d recommend auditioning for Harbeth 30.2’s with a slightly higher powered SS amp, along the lines of Ayre, Sudgen or Hegel.  
At a dealer last year I auditioned Harbeth 30.1s versus a Wilson system set up in the next room. Don’t recall the particulars of the Wilson gear but the entire system cost over $1,000,000, while the Harbeth system was around $15,000. For me, I much preferred the Harbeths, which had a much more natural sound especially with voices. The Wilsons sounded thin.

Also loved this @photomax:
I find the Wilson’s to resemble a mix of school lunchroom garbage can and Transformers robot
I moved from Harbeth HL Monitors MkIII to Wilson W/P 2/1 about 20 years ago.  Completely different kettle of fish.  No regrets....I've since moved on of course.  It's all part of the journey!

so Jaylat says above that a $15,000 system sounded better than a $1,000,000 Wilson Audio system.  No, we should generally not equate sound with dollars spent, but maybe for good measure, Jaylat should have his ears professionally examined.

From the mids to the treble I like Vandersteen better than I like Wilsons, and in terms of room integration (bass!) a lot better than Wilson.