Compact 7ES-3


Question: Are the Harbeth Compact 7ES-3's a big step-up in sound from the Silverline Minuets? Both are to driven with a Jolida RD 302 (which uses the EL-34's). Thank you.
byegolly
Huge increase. A wonderful speaker. Ultimately, you may want more power, but see how it sounds.
Massive improvement. The 7ES-3 is a very good speaker. Sam Tellig bought both Compact 7ES and the LFD integrated when he reviewed each pieces separately in 2007 and 2008. The combinaton between the two was described as a match made in heaven.
I haven't heard the Silverline's but the Harbeth C7 is a true classic and one of the finest speakers ever made. It took me 2 years to find something that retained the beautiful midrange, coherence and musicality of the Harbeth but with more and better bass. You simply cannot go wrong with this speaker. Drive it with anything, place it anywhere and you will still get beautiful music. Unless you listen exclusively to hard rock, metal or dance music I'd say go for it.
Thank you for the responses. I have been ruminating for awhile now over the best speaker system for my situation. I have a large listening room now, but expect to move to a medium size listening room in the future. I have looked/heard larger PSB's, larger Silverlines, and emailed sellers about their for sale speakers. I even uncharacteristically backed out of a Klipsch purchase because my gut told me I was making a mistake. I realize I wanted "really good" on a budget, and I now realize that to get close to "really good" I need to pony up the dollars. If music didn't mean so much to me I wouldn't bother, but after losing my wife to cancer, after having my own close scrapes with health issues - I'm now at a place in my life where I want really good and not just an OK (set of speakers). I heard two models of Harbeth speakers and I'm now a believer. I may not be able to afford the pricey gear "upstream" as is discussed on Audiogon, but I can afford to squeeze my savings for really good speakers, speakers being the most important component in a stereo setup (IMO). I will now begin the hunt for a nice u-s-e-d set of cherry finish Harbeth Super HL5's (and appropriate stands). It may be a long hunt (o: