No one mentioned Hegel H190. you don't need more power than that amp has for the Harbeths. My Stirling LS3/6 are very happy with the combination.
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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$5K-$10K amplification is going to easily outclass your speakers such that the Harbeths become the new bottleneck. I understand why that would be hard to believe given all the hype surrounding this brand, but take the Harbeths along and compare them to nearly any $10K/pair speakers on $5K electronics and you’ll understand why I say this. The resolution required to justify most $5K^ amplification (especially in the bass and highs) just isn’t there. The aforementioned Hegel H190 integrated is the absolute max necessary for the mid-size Harbeths. I’d also look at the Yamaha A-S1200.
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May I ask if the Silver Apex are speaker cables or interconnects? If it's the latter, you may want to try a used Acrolink 8N-A2080III instead of changing amps. This interconnect has a warm and liquid midrange with a tube-like glow in the highs, and it is said to match Class D or bright sounding amps well. Other alternatives include warmer sounding interconnects. |
By the way, I wouldn’t say Luxman amps are analytical sounding amps. They are generally considered to be warm but detailed particularly the L-590AXII that I currently own. I know warm and detail appear to be contradictory but that is what I experienced in my system. To me, the L-590AXII is fairly neutral but leans slightly to warm but the detail are all there. In other words, although the Luxman leans slightly to warmth, the clarity is good as the fine detail in music is still reproduced by the amp. An example of a warm amp which masks detail (poor clarity) is the Plinius SA-100Mk3. FWIW the Luxman is sensitive to equipment support and cabling. It keeps giving when I upgraded the equipment rack and interconnects. I recently added a new balanced XLR interconnect and it sounds different in comparison to the previous XLR cable I was using for the past 3 years. |
OP- your initial rejection of Hegel seemed odd since that is a fairly well known synergistic combo. The optional DAC is very good also. While some discussions say that the sonic uptick for the H590 over the H390 is minor and not worth it, the new H600 seems to have significant trickle down tech upgrade. If you can’t listen before purchasing, Hegel is safest bet. However, you can still resell it if unsatisfied and try something else. Maybe a KRELL k-300i integrated - iBias technology allowing the amp to deliver up to the first 90W in class-A—"without the excessive heat and power consumption of traditional Class-A designs,". Review here GanFet amps have a tubelike warmth, but hard to find in an integrated (LSA may have one). |
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