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Harbeth M30.1+Luxman LX-380 & Audio Note AN-E/SPe Oto SE Sig

I recently auditioned Harbeth M30.1 & the new Luxman LX-380. The sound was heavenly. I also auditioned audio note AN-E/SPe , AN-J and Oto SE int. amp. The experience was very good too. It's a difficult choice to make and I am not able to make up my mind. Luxman LX-380 looks fabulous and is priced higher than Oto. For the AN system the cost is becoming more if I were to invest in SPx speaker wire. I am still thinking how to go about making a choice.  Also the AN dealer here is guiding me towards AN-E/SPe and not HE. He thinks the extra sensitivity is not worth the additional cost.

Does anyone here have any impressions about the above speaker/amp pairs? Would love to hear your opinions and suggestions. 

 Thanks!
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glennewdick's avatar
glennewdick
1,632 posts
 
The AN E speakers are wonderful but they do need corner placement to sound best or they tend to sound bass shy and thin. I’ve had AN E lx in my system for a little over a year with both an older Luxman L560 (50wpc class A) as well as an Otto se and both sound great but the Audio note speakers do like to be with tubes and good ones at that. As for sensitivity I’d always go for the higher sensitivity over the lower it opens more amplification possibilities. I’ve heard the harbeth various at he local dealer who also is an audio note dealer and they are a very different sound I’d suggest you listen to both. 
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,249 posts
 
Agree AN (Audio Note)  and Harbeth present  2 different sonic characters and a listener will eventually lean toward one or the other. Regarding sensitivity I generally agree  that as sensitivity  increases, high quality lower power amplifiers come into play.  However first priority for me is to get the better overall sounding speaker.   Some feel the paper driver AN  beats the higher sensitivity hemp driver AN  in this comparison. 

Jond I know that you are thrilled with your AN speakers.  Do you utilize corner placement?
Charles 
jond's avatar
jond
5,744 posts
 
Charles,
No I am unable to use corner placement due to the layout of my apartment. There is a photo on my system page showing the setup, it's fairly conventional. In fact Vu recently asked me to email him a pic of my setup for another customer who was looking to put J's in a similarly small room. Another note on sensitivity, I was looking at the K's for my small room and Vu suggested the J's as a better option for an apartment dweller. Higher sensitivity would provide more satisfying sound at lower volume versus the K's.
Cheers,
Jon
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,249 posts
 
Jond ,
 I enjoyed viewing pictures of your system. Some say the AN speakers need corner placement for best sound. Your experience would seem to suggest that this may not necessarily be the case. I suspect Vu feels this way or he would have advised against getting these speakers for your apartment setting. By the way that Audio Note DAC  has quite the robust power supply. 
Charles 
jond's avatar
jond
5,744 posts
 
Charles,
In Vu's Audio Note room they have the E's in the corners on the back wall and opposite on the front wall either J's or K's in a conventional setup. Glad you enjoyed the system pics I finally got around to taking a bunch of new photos. And yes AN DAC's tend to be designed from the front back, power supply first, then analog, then digital. One of the many reasons it sounds so good. Happy Friday hope you and everyone get a lot of listening done this weekend!
Jon
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