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Warm romantic & detailed

Good morning Gentlemen & ladies... 

I'm just starting to toy with idea of replacing my Focal 1038's... No matter how I treat my room, or what equipment I throw at it I just can't seem to tame the harsh highs on this speaker. 

I'd like to stay in the same price range of the Electra's (7/8k), I don't mind buying used, the musts for me at this point are: Warm, romantic, yet detailed... It would be beautiful to just sit and listen and not have ear fatigue after 15 minutes of listening. 

Can you please recommend something? 
jeffinnh76
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,318 posts
 
And there you have it, from Tannoy Cheviots to sheep.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheviot_sheep
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,778 posts
 
Have you rolled the tubes in the preamp yet? Mac uses JJs which sound great until you hear better tubes. JJs can be harsh and grainy. For line only testing, try a new Gold Lion 12AX7 in position 5 and one of these in position 6.
Also make sure position 6 has an at7 not an ax7 in place. I read a report of a factory error.
jeffinnh76 OP
25 posts
 
Just thought I'd update all of you chaps. 

Sold my Focal's, feeling a little bittersweet about it, but time moves on.

So far I've auditioned the Focal Spectral 40th, Harbeth 40.3, Sonus Faber heritage iii.

Question: obviously there is a difference between the harbeth 40.1 / 2 and 3rs. I believe I've been told the 40.2 share pretty much the same components as the 3's. Obviously I'm not selling out  18k for a new pair of 3's, so I'm leaning towards the used market. I've found a great price on the 40.1's, but searching a little deeper and opening up my wallet a little more I could land a pair of the 40.2s... So my question is: would I regret buying the 40.1's and not going for the 40.2's?

By the way hearing the harbeth 40.3 was a life changing experience. I was also Extremely impressed with the sonus faber heritage iii, and the focal spectral 40's where also very impressive 
big_greg
6,632 posts
 
I've only heard the 40.2s (amazing!), so can't comment on the differences between .1, .2 and .3, but I would be surprised if they were significant.  I'd suggest checking out the Harbeth User Group - https://www.harbeth.co.uk/usergroup/.  There may be some folks there that have heard the different versions.
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,318 posts
 
@jeffinnh76  There are significant differences between the .1 and the .2/.3.  The crossover in the 40.2 was changed to make it more living-room friendly.  The 40.1 could boom in too small rooms or when not carefully positioned.  The differences between the 40.2 regular, 40.2 Anniversary, and 40.3 XD are insignificant, and have more to do with marketing than performance.  A NOS/NIB/demo 40.2 is the purchaser's sweet spot.
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