Harbeth Comparison

Honeybee i used to own the yamaha you have but i sold it and bought the Luxman 550 A II, certainly a huge improvement sonically and in every sense.
Yamaha was powerful but the sound never engaged me as very musical, i was able to have both at home and compare back and for, i also had the Cayin KT88 at that time, certainly the Luxman was that kind of amp that you will live forever forgetting about upgrades.
If you read the harbeth UK forums, many own the combo with the compact 7ES3 and they are very satisfy as I am, not thinking on upgrades for a while, maybe just my cartridge.
regards,

Luxman/harbeth
LFD/harbeth
Naim/harbeth

well known combinations.

good luck.

Great tip. Thanks.

I also have the matching Yamaha CD S 2000 SACD (which runs balanced XLR) into the amp.

I used to have the CDP too, running balanced but as good the sound was, not musical at all, at for me it was a big Nono...
very clear but not organic or full sound, i gave a long three to 4 months to convince me otherwise, i end up selling it,
regards

Another popular combination on this side of the pond is Harbeth/Rogue Cronus or Cronus Magnum. Popular with me but also displayed at last years Montreal show. Ive been on the HUG and found a few more people with the combo. That being said your gear will work fine with Harbeth and what ever you do I hope you find yourself at peace with your system for a very long time without any upgrades.

Mountain song

I have a luxman 505u and purchased a Sutherland 20/20 phono pre about 1 year ago. I have no regrets, the Sutherland a clear improvement at all levels. I would not hesitate to make the same choice after living with the 20/20 for a year

Good luck with your choice