I find it somewhat amusing that the OP is going to go with something that “looks good on paper” and ignoring recommendations from actual Harbeth owners. But whatever works for you man. Good luck!
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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I used an Ayre AX-7e and Ayre Codex DAC with my Harbeth SHL5+'s for many years. It was a fantastic match but was bettered by the EX-8 with the built -in DAC. I was just about to pull the trigger on it when Aesthetix released the Mimas integrated which I preferred over the Ayre. The Mimas weighs around 44lbs and is a Hybrid amplifier. It also costs around $10K. I tried some of the others mentioned in this thread and they were not to my liking. I subsequently sold my Harbeth's but I owned the Harbeth/Ayre combination for more than 5 years and they sound great together. Good Luck! |
arafiq: I didn’t mean to hurt anybody’s feelings. The biggest reason I went with Ayre is because SO MANY Harbeth owners recommended it as a perfect match sonically.. That recommendation came up again & again in postings here & elsewhere. (Right joey 54?) The fact that the EX-8’s connectivity & functionality fit my requirements so perfectly is icing. Do a search & you’ll see what I mean. |
@cundare2 You're not hurting anyone's feelings. If you have already done your research and settled on Ayre then I'm sure it must be the right choice. At the end of the day, the only person you have to please is YOU. As soix mentioned, Ayre is a great company and makes really good products. Best of luck and enjoy the music! |
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