Harbeths and Tube Amps

Thanks, guys. I know the Air Tight is only 10wts but it's done some amazing things in my small room including driving 85db Spendor 3/5s. Of course, the amp has those massive Tamura trannies which gives it quite a wide bandwidth.

However, I also know it does not push a lot of current and that's what the Harbeths seem to need. I was just wondering if anyone had a specific tube amp that properly drove them like the Cary. I'm also checking out Quicksilver V4s which at 120 tube wts should work pretty good.

I do have to say that after listening last night for about 2 hours the Plinuis makes some excellent music so I've decided I'm in no hurry. I still miss those tubes and trannies, though.

I had good luck driving a pair of HL5s with an ASL 1001, Granite Audio 861 monos, and Primaluna Prologue 1. All of these put out 30-40 triode watts. The Harbeths are easier to drive than their specs would suggest. KT88s, in particular, seem to balance well with the somewhat laid-back Harbeth sound. Would be surprised if the 10W 300B would be enough.

Nzera,

I've been told that the Radial driver, as used in the C7, requires quite a bit of current to work properly. This was told to me by someone at the Harbeth distributor but I can't remember who. How did the Granite Audion in particular work? I've been interested in them since deciding a few months ago to try something other than the SETs I've using for the last 7 1/2 years. I wonder if a 40-50 SET would also work?

stick with ss for the harbeths. all bbc monitors and offshoots are perfectly matched for ss. just ask someone at the bbc

Tomryan- The Harbeth's never really struck me as all that hard to drive with tubes (my current Usher CP 6371s seem like a tougher load). Other than Plinius 9200 and a Jungson JA88C, never tried any other solid state- maybe something like Bryston would give a different perspective.

The Granite Audio monos are excellent- I have a pair of the 861s upgraded to what they are now calling the 864 model. Nice build quality. They have a well-balanced sound- neutral in a good way. Fast, very detailed, good bass, and touch of midrange warmth, but still tansparent. They work well driven direct by a source, but I recently added a Dehavilland Ultra preamp, which has made a definite positive improvement.