Where did you go after Harbeth?

Hi Don,

Good to hear from you. I must tell you that I'm more in an exploration route because I don't know much in audio. The best thing for me would be to be able to listen to as many components as I can in my home and then decide which way to go.

As a young audiophile, I want to explore, discover and make myself and idea or many ideas of what's possible to achieve with the sound at home.

I took the plunge in transistor class A for a while with the Luxman L-590AII and then, some circumstances obliged me to sell it and I went back to tube with a real pleasure.

Few years ago, I had a pair of Audio Physic Virgo III because I liked their soundstage, then I was on the way to discover British sound, with Harbeth which I still really appreciated.

Now, I just feel that high efficiency speakers with a SET tube amplifier is a way to explore. In my opinion, the day I will need a heavy pair of mono-blocks, I should change my speakers to get something more efficient. Plus, I usually listen at low level and my room is not quite big (18'x 24').

In the end, the question I asked above was in my mind for a while. While it looks like so many people will died with their Harbeth, we know less about those who passed thru and went to another audio route.

Sébastien

Daedalus are high sensitivity designs (i.e. 97db) and a number of owners are using them with low power SET amplification. Just so you know...

To Dodgealum,

I took a look a Daedalus website and these speakers are now on my "To hear" list. Plus, the designer seems to have a true love for acoustic instruments, same as me, and he built them in hardwood which I found an excellent idea. It's been many years now since I'm wondering why we often pay expensive speakers made in cheap MDF...

Well, thanks for the link. That's a new discovery for me. Then, I'll have to listen to them.

Sébastien

A pair of Vapor Audio Cirrus replaced my Harbeth SHL5's (and Focal Micro Utopia Be). The Cirrus is more refined than the Harbeth, while also more resolving than the Focal. That's the perfect combination in my mind.

In my opinion, a pair of Penaudio Cenya driven by a well engineered (not over driving the tubes) 300b design (such as the Nagra 300i) is a hard to beat combo. The Cenya is not outclassed by the Nagra and together they have that synergy that audiophiles spend countless years in search of but rarely find.

Disclaimer - Yes, the Nagra 300b has won numerous design, engineering, and best of show awards and as such is not inexpensive...but neither is Pass Labs (recommended above). However, it is a component that you can pass on to one of your sons or daughters from which they can pass on to one of their children. It's not an item that you would likely tire of or wish to flip. It was engineered from the ground up (unlike most products which are just modifications of existing manufacturer designs) because Nagra wanted to see what they could do with the 300b tube - considered by many to be one of the most musical.

Burt - Seattle Hi-Fi