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Harbeth 40.2 OR Spendor Classic 100 OR ??

I'm midway through the quest for the next set of speakers, and the purpose of this thread is just to check if there are any makes/models out there that I should be taking into consideration, but are not currently on my radar.

My current two finalists are as above, Harbeth 40.2 and Spendor Classic 100.

Both of these have displaced my previous "fav", the Vienna Acoustics Liszt.

In various auditionings, I've also been impressed by Audio Note AN-E and Shahinian Oberlisk. I know both of these models are "divergent", but I mention them not because they're also real contenders, but because I was really impressed by the timbral presentation of the AN--as natural as I've heard, and the spatial presentation of the Shahinian--as, well, spacious as I've heard..  At the same time, they both have drawbacks that rule them out for me.

I hope this list gives some idea of where my acoustic tastes align.  Is there anything else out there I should listen to?  I have heard Spendor D7 and ProAc D30, and extrapolating from them, ruled out their corresponding larger models.  I've also heard Devore O/93, and again preferred Harbeth, Spendor, as well as AN (his inspiration).

I'm not really interested in suggestions from the "usual suspects" pool--you know, Vandersteen, Magico, Focal, Revel, B&W, PSB, Monitor Audio, Dynaudio, etc.

BTW, to be driven by Belles Aria monoblocks in what I would describe as a medium-sized room wherein placement would allow for a good 3' away from front and both side walls.

128x128twoleftears
pdreher's avatar
pdreher
1,185 posts
 
Mountainsong - I owned the original version Dynaudio C4 for a few years, but replaced them with Harbeth M40.1’s. I found the C4’s to be fast and exciting, but they could not compete with Harbeth M-40.1’s with regard to tone, timbre, weight and musicality. It wasn’t even close for me.

I’ve not heard the 40.2’s or the KEF Blades... but those would be the two I’d most like to hear with the Luxman amps.
mlsstl
1,397 posts
 
Don't know that I have a technical explanation for this, but between the Harbeth and Spendor, I like Spendor better. They just seem to have more "magic" and the lifelike presentation of well recorded acoustic instruments is very natural. I'd still have my SP1/2Es if my wife hadn't kicked them out due to their 70s boxy appearance.
itzhak1969
515 posts
 
I heard the Harbeth 40.2 at hi fi show and was deeply impressed. Certainly one of the best speakers I ever heard although their dynamics wasn't great.
larryi
3,742 posts
 
I don't know if I would rule out the bigger ProAc speakers based on hearing their smaller models.  Certainly someone who likes Harbeth, Audio Note and Spendor would at least be a candidate for ProAc speakers. 

I don't know how easy it would be to find, but the JM Reynaud line would also be worth looking into.  It has been a while since I heard them, but, I liked their warm, harmonically dense sound.

Someone mentioned the Triangle speakers, which is an interesting recommendation.  They tend to be, perhaps, a little "brighter" sounding than your listed candidates, but, not in a bad way--they are vibrant sounding without being harsh or shrill; I like them.

I think that in this price range, it would be worth while making a trip to New Jersey to hear the Charney Audio speakers.  They make absolutely amazing sounding speakers--vibrant, clear, coherent and harmonically rich.  They come with different driver options (I like the AER driver the most) with the particular model I am interested in ranging from about $12k to $17k (depending on driver and finish).  They are also very high in efficiency (above 100 db/w) and present an easy load so they can be driven by low-powered amps (the best kind, to me).  I own a pair of speakers with midrange drivers that are twice as expensive as these whole speakers, and I am thinking about replacing them with the Charneys.
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
"I own a pair of speakers with midrange drivers that are twice as expensive as these whole speakers,.."

I'm intrigued. Midrange drivers costing $25K+ must be something very special.

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