Integrated amp recommendations for harbeth 30.2 XD

@smrex13 makes a very fair point

i haven’t heard or had the rega aethos myself but from what i can glean from a quick search, it is a substantial effort on the part of rega to build a very good sounding powerful amp, and it should work quite well with harbeths

I’ve been powering my 30.1 with a Hegel h160, and it works well. Many other Harbeth users are also reportedly happy with Hegel amps.

Having said that, though, as I am now using a (Denafrips) stand-alone DAC, I’ve decided to switch/upgrade to a GATO AMP-150. It is scheduled to be delivered soon, and I’ll give my impressions not long after.

just a sidebar, amusing comment...

alan shaw, owner and main man of harbeth, is adamant that his speakers are quite easy to drive, and any ’decent’ amplifier within the wattage ratings provided per each speaker model will do a fine job

on his user forum, any attempt at discussing better or worse amplification for his speakers are shut down by him with an iron fist, as he personally moderates the discussion forum -- with the rationale that the user forum is about users discussing how great his speakers are, but one had better not try to distinguish a better or worse amp to use in driving them - he doesn't want amplifier brands discussed, yamaha vs rega vs denon vs quad vs sugden.... - it needs to be about harbeth

so ok, alan shaw is completely and totally ’agnostic’ about what amps should be used to drive his speakers (all do just a fabulous job) -- then you ask, so alan, in the company, the workshop, the lab, testing room, audio shows, what amp do you use to test and voice and demonstrate your harbeths?

his answer - ’a hegel h360 for many years, and now, a hegel h390’...

ROFLMAO...

@jjss49 

That is a bit unfair. Shaw has talked about why he likes Hegel:

My position on Hegel is abundantly clear. It is the only hifi amp I have ever measured in my lab that has what I consider to be a proper gain structure throughout.

In layman's language that means that with a 'hot' source pumping audio volts into the input channel it is practically impossible to clip or overload the input. That indicates to me a mature, pragmatic real-world approach to the circuit design in a market where far too many amps have input stage clipping evidenced by the ridiculously low setting of the volume control (typically 10 o'clock or lower) at which the output clips. Hence a hard, hard, grainy sound. Indeed, I'd suspect that the extreme sensitivity of the volume control (hardly on, really loud) is prima facie evidence of clipping.

I have been playing P3XD over the last days via one of my H390s and with the volume at about 60/99, I have lots of power reserve and a clean, loud, unclipped sound.

@whipsaw

all good... actions speak louder than words in my view, especially from those who are well versed at marketing :)

all who care can draw their own conclusions, fair or unfair... don’t get me wrong, i really like harbeths, wonderful speakers that sound so true, i have a couple pair... but i think its pretty hilarious about the amps