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A move from Harbeth to... Wilson?

Hi gang, hoping for some thoughts. 

I'm very happy at the moment with my system, but getting a slight itch for an upgrade. So many options and directions I could go, but the one I'm pondering at the moment is moving from my Harbeth C7ES-3 speakers to Wilson Sabrinas. (The Sabrina X is now out, which may bring the Sabrina down to my budget... maybe.)

My room is approx. 10'6" x 15'6" with the speakers along the short wall and my listening chair is about 2/3 back from said wall. The C7s plus their stands are just about the right size for this room, and the Sabrinas on their floor spikes are similar in "overall" size, though obviously the speakers themselves are bigger.

Current amp is a Pass Labs XA30.5 which doubles down at 4Ohms (plus lots of headroom) and comes just within Wilson's "recommended" amplifier power. The room is on the smaller side, and I don't listen loud; I've never "wanted" for more power with the C7s. (Though every once in a while I wonder what a pair of XA60.5s would sound like in here, but that's an entirely different thread.)

Eh? Any thoughts?
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kleech
130 posts
 
I moved from Harbeth HL Monitors MkIII to Wilson W/P 2/1 about 20 years ago.  Completely different kettle of fish.  No regrets....I've since moved on of course.  It's all part of the journey!
jymc
88 posts
 

so Jaylat says above that a $15,000 system sounded better than a $1,000,000 Wilson Audio system.  No, we should generally not equate sound with dollars spent, but maybe for good measure, Jaylat should have his ears professionally examined.

erik_squires
16,058 posts
 

From the mids to the treble I like Vandersteen better than I like Wilsons, and in terms of room integration (bass!) a lot better than Wilson.

jjss49's avatar
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jjss49
6,612 posts
 

completely different kettle of fish is right

although i will say that modern wilsons are smoother and easier to mate with ancillaries than older ones with the metal tweeters... those could exhibit much stridency and hardness/harshness with minimal provovation

ryder
1,689 posts
 

Old thread. If anyone prefers the sound of the Harbeth and desires to have a slightly more transparent, open and detailed sound, the Graham is a good choice. Basically a sound with slightly improved clarity and detail which can make a significant difference to the listening experience. My comment is based on the comparison between the equivalent Graham models to the older Harbeth pre XD models such as P3ESR, C7ES3, M30.1 / 30.2, SHL5+ and M40.1 or 40.2.

I've listened to the Wilson Sasha mk1 about 11 years ago. Sound is rather good.

 

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