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Sugden amp to pair Harbeth SHL5? Not too thick?

HI,

I bought Harbeth SHL5, positioned it properly on filled skylan stands.

Now I drive it by DIY SET GM70 based tube amps, Audio Note tube PRE (M8), Linn Sneaky DS with modified Audio Note DAC 2.1x via SPDIF.

Sound is very refined.
I tried to use analog Linn Sneaky outputs, but it failed due to very average sound quality. AN DAC works much much better in all aspects.

Because Harbeth is a rather thick sounding speaker (I had before Audio Note E and Tannoy DC 15" drivers based horns), high frequencies are rather shy, I had to changes very civilized speaker cables from Audio Note silver litz (SP+SPe) to silver plated van den hul The WIND. WIND made speakers much more coherent , dynamic and a bit more open.

I wanted to simplify a bit my setup and make the sound more open. Tubes with Harbeth is a rather too thick sound combination. These speakers rather requires a lighter sounding setup and there is no need to warm sound with tubes or too relaxed cables.

AD rem:
I'm thinking about Sugden Masterclass IA-4 to combine power amp, pre-am and RIAA in one box. Tonality it should be similar to tubes (midrange quality)

IS Sugden warming up the sound a lot by working in A class?
Do you think, this is a good Harbeth match which gives well balanced sound with open and extend top-end?
Any advice, what would be the other good choice of integrated SS amp with good RIAA?

thanks
maciekp2
digepix's avatar
digepix
121 posts
 
LFD Mk III LE or maybe a YBA Integre
celtic66
1,653 posts
 
I run the Sugden A21SE and it will not thicken the sound. Of oourse I cannot speak about your DIY tube amps. One would presume the Sugden would be much quicker with extended high end. But then I also run Manley tube amps and they are very quick indeed.

I will say the Sugden is very speaker cable sensitive and does not like silver much. Bright. The Sugden is not a warm sound. Very open and the bottom end is not warm or thunderous, just very fast and accurate. Hope this helps.
chayro
2,984 posts
 
As much as I like and respect Noel from Skylan, I never thought his stands worked well with Harbeth for me. My dealer demonstrated the SHL5s with the old EPOS ST12 open-frame stands and to my ear, they yielded a much clearer sound. When I got the speakers home, I ordered the Skylans because they were the ones you were "supposed" to get with Harbeths, but I ended up changing to the Epos. Before you jump ship, you might consider placing a hard interface between the speakers and the Skylans. I found that casino chips worked well or you could use metal cones with the points facing up if you don't mind putting pinpricks in the speaker. Have fun.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
This may sound like an odd recommendation, but a BAT 300x integrated would probably be a very good choice. It has a phono option and 3 different preamp options. Its built like a tank and is very powerful. Also, its neutral enough to work with just about anything.
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