Bengineer Posted January 4, 2022 Posted January 4, 2022 (edited) Have been getting great help narrowing amps from a few folks here. But figure may as well muddy the waters with more opinions. Under 2000 new or used. Key is they must be able to get the best out of the Harbeths at low volumes. Finesse if you will. And solid state only at the moment. Thoughts? Edited January 4, 2022 by Bengineer
blakey72 Posted January 4, 2022 Posted January 4, 2022 I'd be giving one of these a go. If I wasn't getting one of Earle's amps that would be my choice for my Harbeth's. https://www.china-hifi-audio.com/en/willsenton-tube-amplifier-c-77/willsenton-r8-kt88-el34-x4-tube-integrated-amp-power-amplifier-headphone-p-2268?zenid=56dd754be40c522d2e7927ab286281c7 https://www.audiophile-store.com.au/collections/hi-fi-amplifiers/products/willsenton-r8-stereo-amplifier-tube-kt88x4-or-el34-4-integrated-amplifier-power-amplifier-headphones-amp-all-in-one
Bengineer Posted January 4, 2022 Author Posted January 4, 2022 Sorry. Solid State only at this stage. They look intense though, pretty cool.
wen Posted January 4, 2022 Posted January 4, 2022 Have a look at the Harbeth speakers owners group in the speaker section
Bengineer Posted January 4, 2022 Author Posted January 4, 2022 Just now, wen said: Have a look at the Harbeth speakers owners group in the speaker section Yeah have been perusing 1
Tweaky Posted January 4, 2022 Posted January 4, 2022 (edited) 50 minutes ago, Bengineer said: Have been getting great help narrowing amps from a few folks here. But figure may as well muddy the waters with more opinions. Under 2000 new or used. Key is they must be able to get the best out of the Harbeths at low volumes. Finesse if you will. Thoughts? The French distributor of Harbeth is / was Lavardin , who make SS amps of 50w output highly tweaked to sound like tube amps, but with a very tight power supply, much like Naim amps. They are supposed to be a perfect match with Harbeth speakers ??? I have yet to hear them so can't comment on personal experience {LONG time owner of Harbeth SHL5's ] Audio Magic [The Harbeth distributor, also distributor for Lavardin }. The various ITX model [Not the ISX models] are the one that is supposed to have the special magic.......pricey and very minimalistic , if not hair shirtish ......but if you want the magic without screwing around constantly trying go find the best you can get from the Harbeths demoing / buying/ changing amps, try them. https://krispyaudio.com.au/categories/amplifiers/integrated-amplifiers/ EDIT: My bad, just read the under $2000 price point.......Dont laugh I'm serious, but try to get a get Late 70's early 80's Hitachi HS- 610 integrated amp.....not my review. https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/hitachi/ha-610.shtml One of the sweetest sounding amps you'll ever hear, it's rated as 60w but I know for a fact [ I own one] that it nearly doubles it's output, as it's been tested at putting out 110w into 8ohms. HUGE power supply.....works great with my SHL5's , and is the amp I seem to always go back to for some reason.....magic /synergy....guess so, as I've had amps that have cost 1000 X more go through my system Edited January 4, 2022 by Tweaky 1
wen Posted January 4, 2022 Posted January 4, 2022 (edited) have just read the Stereophile review, a Peachtree iDecco was the amp mainly used? Other suggestions, Rega Elicit-R Yamaha AS-1100 there is a used Kraken Class A amp which may be a good match, cant remember where the amp is, ? to audition Edited January 4, 2022 by wen 1
wen Posted January 4, 2022 Posted January 4, 2022 @Bengineer there is a Electrocompaniet AW60 for sale in Brisbane, offering audition, take your speakers around and try. One review i read said if you have speakers <85dB/w/m this is the amp for you, tube like smoothe sound 2
Bengineer Posted January 4, 2022 Author Posted January 4, 2022 Just now, wen said: @Bengineer there is a Electrocompaniet AW60 for sale in Brisbane, offering audition, take your speakers around and try. One review i read said if you have speakers <85dB/w/m this is the amp for you, tube like smoothe sound Omicron popping off here, and I have anywhere from zero to 6 weeks to avoid getting it so I can be at the birth of my twins Unfortunately, Audition at the moment isnt on the cards! 1
dugby Posted January 8, 2022 Posted January 8, 2022 Any Naim Audio amps with Harbeths are musical. For your budget, a used ¨Nait 2¨ Disclosure : I have been using Naims for 40 years (with various BBC speakers - Rogers Export Monitors, Harbeths HL and Energy Pro 22 Monitors) 1
andyr Posted January 9, 2022 Posted January 9, 2022 On 04/01/2022 at 7:37 PM, Bengineer said: Have been getting great help narrowing amps from a few folks here. But figure may as well muddy the waters with more opinions. Under 2000 new or used. Key is they must be able to get the best out of the Harbeths at low volumes. Finesse if you will. And solid state only at the moment. Thoughts? Well you certainly have got some suggestions here (both from people who actually read and understood your post ... and those who, it seems, didn't!). I doubt that $2k is sufficient to get hold of an amp which will deliver the best your Harbeths are capable of ... but you should certainly be able to get hold of an amp which will produce a good sound with them. There was a Parasound A23 advertised here recently that would do a good job - it's bigger brother, the A21, would do an even better job. Elektra Reference HD is another ... and (but way outside your budget) a Magtech would do a superb job. Good luck, Andy
Denis Sweeney Posted January 26, 2022 Posted January 26, 2022 Hi - did you ever get around to buying the amp? Reason I ask is that I may have a very new Parasound A23+ that I'm probably about to sell. PM me if interested. Good luck with the twins - I have twins boys aged 10. Cheers Denis 1
Bengineer Posted January 26, 2022 Author Posted January 26, 2022 Grabbed a new Schiit Aegir. Seems to go well. Very heavy for its size and gets stupid hot, must be working.
andyr Posted January 26, 2022 Posted January 26, 2022 (edited) 2 hours ago, Bengineer said: Grabbed a new Schiit Aegir. Seems to go well. Very heavy for its size and gets stupid hot, must be working. Seriously! According to the Stereophile review I found here ... it's only 20w (into 8 ohms). Yes, it doubles down into 4 ohms (which is good) - but I suggest there are a lot of amps which will do a better job. But, yes, they will be more expensive. BTW, Class D amps are not supposed to get hot. If it is ... then it's having a problem driving your Harbeths. If you have the itch to improve but want to stick to Class D ... how about trying a pair of Purifi 451 monoblocs. Or amps based on the Hypex NC400 modules. If you have more money to spend ... try a Magtech. Or try Denis's Parasound A23, given he's in Brisbane. ( @Denis Sweeney) Andy Edited January 26, 2022 by andyr 2
Bengineer Posted January 26, 2022 Author Posted January 26, 2022 (edited) Its not class D. Its their spin on Class A. Heavy and gets hot is how its meant to be Edited January 26, 2022 by Bengineer 1
andyr Posted January 26, 2022 Posted January 26, 2022 11 hours ago, Bengineer said: Its not class D. Its their spin on Class A. Heavy and gets hot is how its meant to be OK, sorry for wrongly classifying it as Class D. It's still only 20w-into-8-ohms, tho. Trying out Denis's Parasound A23 is still a good thing to do - to see how the Harbeths respond to some real power. Andy 1
Bengineer Posted January 27, 2022 Author Posted January 27, 2022 Maybe in a few months. Content enough at the moment. I had then off the TT2 directly whilst I waited. 8W. It sounded decent. The Aegir was a step up from that, maybe *only* 20W but it seems a quality 20W. 13kg for a small footprint, love heavy audio gear!
andyr Posted January 27, 2022 Posted January 27, 2022 (edited) 10 hours ago, Bengineer said: Maybe in a few months. Content enough at the moment. I had them fed off the TT2 directly whilst I waited. 8W. It sounded decent. The Aegir was a step up from that, maybe *only* 20W but it seems a quality 20W. 13kg for a small footprint, love heavy audio gear! My 40w-into-4-ohms stereo amps weigh 17kgs each. And, yes, they get hot, too. (Does that make them better? I have NFI - we need to listen to both! ) Andy Edited January 27, 2022 by andyr
Bengineer Posted January 27, 2022 Author Posted January 27, 2022 All my favourite headphones amps were heavy class A suckers. Only one wasn't, but most were. We like what we like don't we.
andyr Posted January 27, 2022 Posted January 27, 2022 6 minutes ago, Bengineer said: All my favourite headphones amps were heavy class A suckers. Only one wasn't, but most were. We like what we like don't we. Not quite shure what you're on about, Be? Yes, Class A is wonderful ... but perhaps you need to make an effort to listen to, say, a pair of Pass XS150 monoblocs, to see how extra power vitalises your Harbeths. Andy
Bengineer Posted January 27, 2022 Author Posted January 27, 2022 Maybe one day Andy I've been to and back and to and back from the summit fi of the headphone world, the point of proper diminishing returns. That is about where I'm at with the Harbeths on my desk. I think its the right level of price to performance. Maybe if I had a acoustically treated room for them.
andyr Posted January 27, 2022 Posted January 27, 2022 30 minutes ago, Bengineer said: I've been to and back and to and back from the summit fi of the headphone world, the point of proper diminishing returns. Headphones ... are entirely irrelevant to a discussion about Harbeths. 30 minutes ago, Bengineer said: That is about where I'm at with the Harbeths on my desk. I think its the right level of price to performance. All I'm suggesting is that you seem to be unable to accept that anything could sound better than your Aegir. A simple experiment will detemine whether it's you or I that is correct. Andy
Bengineer Posted January 27, 2022 Author Posted January 27, 2022 14 minutes ago, andyr said: Headphones ... are entirely irrelevant to a discussion about Harbeths. All I'm suggesting is that you seem to be unable to accept that anything could sound better than your Aegir. A simple experiment will detemine whether it's you or I that is correct. Andy Going to end this thread now. Thanks for everyone's input.
BATMAQN Posted January 27, 2022 Posted January 27, 2022 I'm late to this thread but I ran my Harbeth's with a Saksa 85 it was probably the best amp I used with them apart from Sansui it was just lovely they paired beautifully.
Allan Posted October 6, 2024 Posted October 6, 2024 (edited) I've been using a Pass ACA 8w Class A amp with my SHL5 30TH and am blown away. There's definitely some synergy happening, a very sweat sound indeed with great bass resolve too. I'm using a high gain tubed pre, no problem at all obtaining comfortable listening levels around 90dB Edited October 6, 2024 by Allan
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