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Harbeth 40.2 40th Anniversary with Simaudio mono blocks

I would like to report my findings on driving my pair of Harbeth 40.2 40th Anniversary speakers with Simaudio Moon 400M pair of mono blocks, 390 Moon pre-amplifier and 260D CD transport.

I have a decent size room 25 X 35’ but irregular in its shape - it a condo so portion of the roof is high and whole construction is open between my room, living room, kitchen, and stairs - volume wise it is close to 1350ft2.
It is important to mention that the whole place is very well damped with several double decorative carpets, many record and book shelve units, tables, and heavy curtains.
Speakers are 10’ apart and 12’ from the listening sofa. Front of each is 5’ from back wall. There is no wall behind the sofa.

I have initially tried several amps from 30 - 650W a channel and have to say that I truly do not understand why would anybody even think about running 40.2s (and other Harbeths) with low powered amplification. I do not listen to music loud - 85dB at my listening spot is the loudest I go.
I am actually amazed how those large monitors came to life with Moon 400M - the scale, dynamics and sound staging is unbelievable!!! How can it be that those large boxes, set not that far from back walls, throw such an enormous, deep staging and lifelike imaging? Listening to Anna Maria Jopek, Allison Krauss, Patricia Barber, Nina Simone, Shirley Horn, transformed me to the concert club - first row seats!
Amazing Jeff Hamilton Trio "Live"album - track number 8, "Yesterdays", will challenge your speakers, amplification and room’s acoustic. Listening to that track on 150W amp was like driving BMW 750i on lowest octane gas - There was no depth to the sound, most of the Hamilton’s drumming sounded like me with a little stick hitting plastic box.
When 400W(8Ohms) a channel with 80.000uF capacitnace a channel got connected, the difference was night and day - way far from subtle. The performance gave me a goosebumps.

I have seen several Harbeth owners being disappointed by the sound of their speakers while driving them with 30W amplification. Can Fiat 500 outperform Mercedes S560? Or can you buy that S560 to feed it with 87 Octane gas?
All I am saying - next time you will be at your Harbeth dealer - ask them to hook up powerful amplification. Take the step even further - compare the powerful amp (300-400W) to the 50W one at lower (80dB) level and hear the difference for yourself. You do not need to drive 200MPH, to appreciate the 470HP of S560....

I have tired many speakers and amplifiers in my room - Pass Labs, Dartzeel, Hegel, Ars Sonum, Accuphase, Luxman, Cary Audio, Leben, Shindo, Wilson, Dynaudio, Reference 3A, Merlin, Spendor, Kiis, ProAcs, DeVore, Raidho and what I have accomplished now is by far the most pleasurable experience from them all....

If you want to know specifics, just ask and I will try to do my best to answer.


arturgorniak
arturgorniak OP
80 posts
 
@prof 
I had a chance to listen to those Josephs at friends house but not in my own. Based on what I remember, I would say switching from Perspectives to 96s would be a downgrade especially in the near field listening. Honestly, based on my experience, no large speakers will perform at their best in near field listening - the drivers need room to integrate. I will even take it further - if you need your speakers closer than 8', I would look for good monitors like TAD MA1S or Dynaudio Confidence 20, perhaps Harbeth 30.2s.....

Yes, Nagra is beautifully made and sounds phenomenal too....I tired their Classic Integrated and was floored how beautifully it was made and how gorgeous it looked - probably the nicest amp I have ever tried.....sound wise - very good BUT not exceptional - Dartzeel LHC208 smoked it BY far......
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,327 posts
 
@prof  You should try auditioning the Spendor Classic 100--very different experience to the D series (if the 100 were available anywhere in the US for audition...)
prof
3,534 posts
 

Hi again art.

As a fellow audiophile with long experience, I’ve come to some of my own conclusions. I have found the mantra "big speakers for big rooms/small speakers for small rooms" hasn’t necessarily been the case.Depends on the room, the speaker design, the set up, etc.   (One of the most impressive audio experiences I ever had were MBL 101s in a hilariously shoe-box-sized room, that was treated to make them work well).

My room is 13’ wide and 15’ deep at it’s deepest, though has a wide room opening and overall the acoustics are excellent (I also had it renovated a while back with an acoustician). Every speaker, from full range floor-standing to monitor-sized, has worked beautifully in my room. Until recently I had big Thiel 3.7s (now I have the slightly smaller Thiel 2.7s as well as the Josephs. I only downsized for the aesthetic/ergonomic reasons, not due to any sound problems with bigger speakers) and I could place them between 6 and 7 1/2 feet away and they produced the most even, coherent sound I’ve ever heard. I would definitely not restrict myself to smaller speakers (though I own a bunch of those too).

But some designed won’t work as well of course. There seems to be something in the crossover/tweeter/big woofer design of the O series that require that 8 foot distance to snap in to focus (tonally, imaging, etc).






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greginnh
382 posts
 
OP - I agree with you regarding the Harbeth 40.2 liking power.  I have a tube preamp with a pair of Gato Audio PWR 222 monoblocks.  The Harbeth are quite happy!
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