Harbeth C7- Tube or solid state power?

Mark, check out the following link. Many posts on this subject:

http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/harbethspeakers

(You'll need to subscribe to the group).

Peter

They were designed using Quad ss amps. Most of us that converse on the Harbeth user group use ss amps and are quite happy.

Good luck,

Charlie

That is true, most of us use solid state amps, and don't understand why anyone would want to use tubes. But, there are quite a few who are happy with C7's and tube amps. The amp should be fairly robust and stable. High power tube amps do fine with these speakers. The nice thing about the Harbeths is that they will reveal whatever qualities that tube amps have that you like, as long as they put out reasonable power.

thank you. Can I know, from your experience, what is the stand height which give the most bass?

tks,
Mark

The "most" bass won't be the most accurate bass. I use 16 inch stands, which are close in height to the 17 inch matching wooden stands that Harbeth used to provide with the speakers. Any lower than that and you may get more bass, but probably some lumpiness. I'd recommend 16-18 inches. Charlie and others, however, use higher stands, and seem to be happy.

To my ears, and confirmed by my in-room measurements taken from a listening position at which higher stands would make sense, the speakers sound thinner in the bass on 21 inch stands than they do on 16 inch stands.

Paul