Ahofer, we have ATC SCM 19MK II an 85db efficient loudspeaker, we play them very well with an Naim Uniti Atom a 40 watt amplifer. The Naim is punchy and warm so it adds life to the ATC which tend to sound clean and the Naim’s amplifier stage creates a punchy sound with the ATC. So we have seen first hand that a low powered amplifier can drive and derive excellent sound from an inefficient set of loudspeakers.
We have no issues getting them to sound good and play loud enough in a decent sized room 18 by 14 with a 10 foot ceiling.
This gentleman allready has expensive cables, dac, and amplifier.
The issue is what we call mud: warm speakers, warm digital, warm cabling, this all creates a sound which isn’t involving and requires you to raise the volume to hear details.
The corollary is sizzle systems: bright speakers, bright amp, bright source, bright cabling = fatiguing sound, over sibillent sound.
He needs to rebalance the system by adding in products which add more detail or sparkle to the sound.
Our suggestion is to borrow two cables from the Cable Company, a set of interconnects and a set of speaker cables, willing to bet dollars to donuts without changing anything else just changing the cabling will bring the system back into some sense of balance.
We are not saying that more power won’t be a good thing, more power is never a bad thing, howerver, we have seen many 85-87db loudspeakers sound fantastic with a low powered amplifier and still get to both a decent volume level and get great sound until you run out of steam and the amplifier distorts.
When you have to turn up the volume to hear detail means details are being lost, we have systems that sound fantastic at lower volume levels, we look for high resolution loudspeakers such as KEF, or Paradigm, or Focal, or others, that preserve all the details in the music and then match those cleaner speakers with warmer electronics.
It is all about system synergy.
The Leben is a terrific amplifier if this gentleman moved into a more efficient loudspeaker he would be in win win scenario.
His loudspeakers are not efficient, and they don’t go that low in terms of bass, for the same real estate as a stand mount he could move into a floor stander with both greater efficiency and more deep bass.
Harbeth is one of those love hate brands, we are personally not fans way too colored, and although they have stunning cabinetry, for the price of $7k plus a set of stands there are tons of great floorstanding loudspeakers that will offer more overall sound for the dollar.
Harbeth does have a very musical sound and can be very engaging, which is their draw, so this gentleman has a few choices;
1: Change amplifier: now he has to find an amplifier which will work well with his other choices and this amplifier may not have the midrange magic and soundstaging that a good tube amplifer has.
2: Change loudspeakers: audition a set of more efficient 90-92+ efficient loudspeakers that work well with a 32 watt tube amplifier, here again you have the possibility of gaining both greater efficiency you may also gain a loudspeaker which has greater dynamic range, more bass and may have a more lifelike sound.
3: Change cabling to a brighter sounding set of cables which will help rebalance the sound by adding more detail and clarity, brighter sounding cabling is AQ, Nordost. Netural Wireworld, Wamer Cardas, Transparent, MIT, Kubala, Shunyata. He has warm sounding cables, he need to try brighter more detailed one hence the AQ or Nordost recommendation.
We have heard systems with plenty of power that played loud and still had no detail, if you obsure information playing louder doesn’t fix that problem.
If you are going to demo amplifiers you don’t need necessarily 300 watts you need an amplifier which will drive those speakers well and provide the sound quality you are looking for. Please test our suggestion by borrowing some cables and then seeing if you get the detail back before changing the amplifier. If the cabling does the trick you are good to go. Then if you still want more then you should try a different amplifier but also consider if the Harbeths are really the best speakers for your application.
Good luck OP.
Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ
