I have 30.1s and have used quite a few amps with them and never thought they ran out of juice. I used to use them with Quicksilver 40 watt monoblocks. I now use a Yamaha AS2100. Both sounded great. I'm not sure you could make them sound bad. Dynamics on the other hand may be an amp issue. They love Quad amps in the Harbeth Users Group (Mainly UK centric so not surprising). You can get an Artera Stereo with 140 wpc for probably close to $2000 new and quite a bit less used. I would try some sort of used solid state that you know you can sell for what you paid just as an experiment.
Power amp recommendation for Harbeth 30.2s
It’s not that I don’t like my current setup, it’s just that I wonder whether a more powerful amp would give the music more heft. I’m running a pair of Harbeth 30.2s through a Prima Luna EVO 300 preamp driven by a vintage YBA Passion SS 400 power amp (purchased second hand from a reputable dealer). I listen primarily to music streamed from my FLAC stored collection on my NAS or from Qobuz through a Bluesound Node 2 into a Chord Qutest. The YBA is very transparent and I love the sound of my system, but sometimes wonder on certain types of music whether a more powerful amp would be an improvement. I like the idea of a SS or hybrid power amp paired with a tube preamp. I chose the although the Prima Luna preamp after listening to a Prima Luna integrated against a Hegel H590 (I had previously owned the Hegel H190) and purchased the YBA at the same time. My listening choices are varied (folk, jazz, alternative, vocal, rock (not metal), so I’m not looking for ear shattering volume. I don’t like the idea of a tube power amp due to both cost and how hot they can run. I’m captivated by the Pass amps, but they are expensive. I’ve also wondered about the Van Alstine hybrid amps. I’m throwing this out to the experts because I may be overthinking this and should just be satisfied with the YBA until it finally fizzles (it’s pretty old). Thoughts?
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- 29 posts total
- 29 posts total