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Speakers in 10-15K price range for Classical music

Well I am in the market for speakers. My music choice is primarily classical and then a little bit of everything else such as jazz and soft/alternate rock. I started with a budget of 5-7K and auditioned Maggie 3.6, Quad 989, Spendor S8e and so on, but quickly realized I couldn’t get what I was looking for in these speakers. They all did pretty well on solo or few instruments but could not nearly reproduce a symphony (Mahler’s fifth, or Tchaikovsky’s sixth or Schubert’s ninth) with any authenticity. This was about a year ago. Since then I had stretched my budget and am now looking for speakers in the 10-15K price range.

Now here’s the challenge. I didn’t like the Thiel, B&W or Wilson sound. I had liked Maggie 20.1 in the past, but can’t find any dealer nearby that carries them for an audition. Heard the Vandersteen 5a for about 10 mins and they are pretty convincing, but I need a proper audition and then it’s still beyond my price range. Now my question is what other speakers I can look at for the kind of music I like?

Thanks much in advance, for your help.

Oh, my system is Krell SACD and 400xi Integrated Amp. Will upgrade the amp eventually, but will need to wait for another year at least :)
neal1502
pdreher's avatar
pdreher
1,213 posts
 
Weseixas - While the 40.1's would not appear to be easy to drive by looking at the efficiency rating (spec'ed @ 86db/1w/1m), they have a flat impedance curve, rated at 6 ohm nominal / 5 ohm minimum. Furthermore, the beauty of the Harbeth sound is that you don't need to crank up the volume to ear splitting levels (like I had to do with my Dynaudio C4's) to get them to sound their best.

Also, even though some at Stereophile had some critical things to say about the Harbeth 40.1's, they still gave it a class A rating.... also TAS gave it their Golden Ear award, so I think there's strong consensus that it's a highly acclaimed speaker, albeit not for everyone.

weseixas
519 posts
 
Hello Pdreher,

Yes , it does appear that the Harbeth is well reviewed. In situations like this and from experience, the Harbeth will be very sensitive to ancillary equipment for best sound.


regards,
weseixas
519 posts
 
Nolitan,

What are you currently using to power your harbeth's.....
nolitan
865 posts
 
i have several friends & acquantance that i have met over the years that have owned the Harbeths and none of them uses the same amp.

To witt, here is a short list of amps that I know from different people and friends over the years that are being used with either the M30, SHL5 or C7es series:

1. mcintosh s/s amp
2. Cary 805s
3. Krell 400 int amp
4. classe int amp (even the older version)
5. plinius int & power amps
6. mccormack dna amps
7. Cayin tube int amps (el34s)
8. Accuphase Integrated amps (class A and Class a/b variants)
9. Bat VK 75
10. Luxman 505 int amp
11. Conrad Johnson MV60 & LPS70s
12. Naim Integrated amp
13. LFD Zero LE MKIII
14. Bryston can work but a bit tricky
15. jeff rowland Capri S & 102 power amp
16. Bel Canto Digital amps
17. Peachtree Audio Nova 80w hybrid amp
19. Sun Audio 300bs
20. Pass XA series
21. Ayre V5 power amp

Krell and harbeths can work together if you use a warm sounding cable like cardas or purist audio design.
In other words, they seem to work with just anything out there. Its a matter of preference.
As for me, the absolute best is the one that fits your sound. I love the Luxman int with them, but does not mean to say that the Classe power amp wouldn't work well with them. So, anything goes!!
I would suggest you visit the Harbeth User group as these guys there have different choices of amps they have used with the different Harbeths.
These are easy to please speakers folks!!
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