OP, regarding the Benchmark, like everything it comes down to synergy and personal preferences. Can the Benchmark compete with more expensive gear? Absolutely. But, it’s not pretty to look at if you want something that looks like Mac, Lux, or Accuphase! That said, back to synergy, I found that the Harbeths have their own nice, warmish, round sound. The Benchmarks are super neutral sounding, so you get what the speakers have to offer without any additional coloration. The star of the pair is probably the preamp (LA4). Very high resolution and lots of flexibility. I prefer a neutral sound more than “tubey”, so that may be why I liked the Benchmark. But overall I think the synergy is great between them and the Harbeths for the reason I mentioned,
Electronics for Harbeths -- $5-10K
I've been looking for an amp/preamp or integrated to pair with my mid-sized Harbeth speakers (86dB sensitivity, minimum 6ohm impedance, ~50Hz crossover to a powered sub).
I've dug deep into Pass Labs, ARC, Levinson, HiFi Rose, PrimaLuna, Ayre, MF's Nu-Vista line, Hegel, etc. -- the usual suspects. But I haven't found a perfect fit, b/c I have a few constraining requirements:
- weight not much over 40 pounds
- an HT Bypass input and at least 2 line-level outputs (for powered sub & headphone amp); no digital inputs required
- I love well-designed tube gear, but in this case, I'm restricted to SS
In terms of sound -- the most important factor, of course -- I rarely't exceed moderate listening levels in a smallish room (10 ft to seating position). I do, however, enjoy a large, three-dimensional presentation & uncompressed dynamics, and sonics more like the sweet, tubelike house sound of ARC & Pass than the "analytic" superdetailed sound of Luxman or Levinson (both outstanding companies, but just not the right fit in this case). One motivator is that after recently switching to more revealing Analysis Plus Silver Apex cables, I find I can no longer stand the sound of my last-gen Class D amps.
A Pass Labs XA25 amp + SP-12 pre combo comes pretty close, but doesn't have quite enough power. MF's new NuVista 800.2 would be perfect if it didn't weigh nearly 90 pounds.
Then there's Ayre's new VX-8 amp, or EX-8 integrated, sound great on paper, but which I know almost nothing about, aside from specs & a Stereophile review. Anybody own one of these?
I have no opportunity to demo any of this gear live -- disabled & don't get out much -- but if anybody would like to recount their first-hand experience finding a soulmate for Harbeth speakers, I'll be listening.
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@cundare2 I posted my comment early this morning (couldn't sleep). My first post attempt stated my experience at an audio show where the Harbeth 7.3 was mated with a Plinius Class A SS amp. Sounded heavenly. This first iteration was deleted accidentally and the second one is what you see. At any rate, you can't go wrong with BAT. 60-day return policy from Uncle Kevin at Upscale. I've owned this integrated twice and currently use a VK-33SE/VK-255SE combo. |
- 62 posts total