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A move from Harbeth to... Wilson?

Hi gang, hoping for some thoughts. 

I'm very happy at the moment with my system, but getting a slight itch for an upgrade. So many options and directions I could go, but the one I'm pondering at the moment is moving from my Harbeth C7ES-3 speakers to Wilson Sabrinas. (The Sabrina X is now out, which may bring the Sabrina down to my budget... maybe.)

My room is approx. 10'6" x 15'6" with the speakers along the short wall and my listening chair is about 2/3 back from said wall. The C7s plus their stands are just about the right size for this room, and the Sabrinas on their floor spikes are similar in "overall" size, though obviously the speakers themselves are bigger.

Current amp is a Pass Labs XA30.5 which doubles down at 4Ohms (plus lots of headroom) and comes just within Wilson's "recommended" amplifier power. The room is on the smaller side, and I don't listen loud; I've never "wanted" for more power with the C7s. (Though every once in a while I wonder what a pair of XA60.5s would sound like in here, but that's an entirely different thread.)

Eh? Any thoughts?
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clearthinker's avatar
clearthinker
1,582 posts
 
Hyberbole
I doubt an order of magnitude separates many different speakers, unlike the pricing.  In case you don't know, an order of magnitude is 10x.

Exaggeration
At that price there will be plenty of other options.  Anyway we all know speakers are a very personal choice.

Silly supposition
And can any member who 'hasn't heard live music' please put up hand, there won't be any.

The above post adds nothing and we can all do without.
yogiboy's avatar
yogiboy
5,612 posts
 
I’ve owned the Harbeth C7 and the M30.1. IMO, they both sounded nice but boxy. My favorite Harbeth is the P3ESR. They really do a disappearing act when in a smaller room like yours. You can get a pair at the fraction of the cost of those others that you are looking at. If they don’t work out they are very easy to sell. Here is a video of a guy that agrees with my opinion about the P3ESR!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqFIaiPT_kY
And another!
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=harbeth+p3esr+review&view=detail&mid=5D7EB69CCEBBAAE793...
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,448 posts
 
1+ clearthinker
cd318
2,636 posts
 
@yogiboy 

Great links.

No doubt the smaller panels of the P3ESR will help with the disappearing act.

I once read a slightly troubling review of that renowned speaker where the listener got confused as to which speaker was actually playing at the time. 

The other speaker in the room was the M40!

Maybe the ability to sound like a much larger speaker is the P3s best parlour trick, but it did leave me wondering just how big the actual differences might be.

This is not going to be easy for the OP, is it?


@clearthinker,

What a wonderfully refreshing post to read. Thanks!
mlsstl
1,427 posts
 
"Anyone who thinks they are HiFi sounding has not listened to current models..."

I can't tell you how many times I've heard this about several brands of speakers over the years.  Basically, it boils down to "THIS TIME we got it right."  ;-)

I begrudge no one for whatever preferences they have. We all have different priorities concerning what we value when we listen to music. That's fine. It's a big world and there are options for everyone. 

(And, BTW, I do listen to live music regularly -- Powell Symphony Hall, Cathedral Basilica and similar venues these days and years ago spent time in the music industry as a sound engineer before switching careers. I'm confident of my own preferences.)
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