Harbeth SHL5 for Shindo Montille?

Dave_b: "...the guy's a scatter brain with his designs." Beg to differ strongly, and predict many others will do the same, whether they voice their opinions herein or not. Ken Shindo is one of the geniuses making important contributions to the ongoing pursuit of allowing audio systems to reproduce the live event as believably as possible. Change is at the heart of that pursuit. There are many quality speakers available that will do just fine with 15 watts or even less per side into 8 ohms. BTW, what to you believe is a realistic music level? Is that level across the board for all music genres? If not, what other levels are "appropriate" for various music genres, and how did you come by these numbers?

Adam3city: I would suggest the Leben CS600 for those Harbeths if you cannot afford equivalent quality power from the Shindo offerings.

For me, a Shostakovich Symphony demands to be played back at concert level (row 5-10). Even a trumpet played live can make your eardrums distort...it's crazy dynamic and visceral. Music is a living, breathing, aggressively seductive experience. Flea watt amps and limited range speakers do not serve the music IMHO.

Dave_b - I believe I understand your comment better now WRT what for you would be a realistic music level. And I agree, a Shostakovich symphony and comparable large scale classical and other works are better heard at higher SPLs generated by full-range systems. However, I still believe that low powered amps, when partnered with appropriate speakers, can do a superb job of rendering highly musical presentations of other musical genres, e.g., solo vocals, some solo instrumental works, and many small ensemble works. I guess this is one of the reasons I have chosen to have multiple systems. When I want to hear large scale music, I listen on a system that includes Verity Fidelio Encores, a REL B-2, and a 225 wpc SS amp. When I want to listen to solo instrumentals, solo vocals, and small ensemble works, I listen to my Solovoxes powered by Wavelength Cardinal X2 300B monoblocks. In each case, I find the music to be just the way you described.

Happy Listening!

dave_b also was highly touting Maggies awhile back. which are notoriously known for not being dynamic on symphonic pieces. caveat emptor

I augmented the Maggies with 2 subs and found them to be more than capable with symphonic music. Dynamics at lower levels were not as good as with dynamic speakers. The main reason I changed speakers though was do to a repurposing of my den, so I moved to a smallish sitting room. It's all good at this level...sorry for the negativity. I just like to play loud sometimes and I find complex music needs lot's of power IMHO:O)