Electronics for Harbeths -- $5-10K

Ah! So much for my reading comprehension!

Your recommendation is a good one, but I think regardless, an amp upgrade is long overdue. But you’re making me think that I might need to incorporate a cable re-evalution at the same time.

What’s interesting is the fact that the amps sound the worst when fed by 100% Silver Apex cables. Yes, there are a zillion other factors that make each signal path unique in its own way, but still...

One possibility is that the Silver Apex segments sound the most Class D-ish because they’re the most revealing. Unfortunately, it’s not easy to swap them all out, since some have singular connectors, like the tonearm cable.

Regardless, I would hate to give up those expensive cables. They’re so impressive, even mind-boggling, in terms of presentation and detail. No other upgrade that I’ve ever made in this system has done so much to promote a broad, truly 3-dimensional soundstage. After I inserted them into the system, I could not stop listening to vinyl. The endorphin rush -- the thing that keeps so many of us in this hobby -- was intense.

I just hope that swapping a $2000 amp for an $11,000 amp produces as dramatic an improvement.

What model Harbeths are you using? I have owned many different Harbeths and they sing with tubes! If you are restricted to solid state LFD should fit the bill! Give Gene a call he has been selling Harbeths for many years !

Gene Rubin Audio

@yogiboy has a valid point.

LFD was my second choice after my REGA OSIRIS., so it is worth an audition 

yogiboy:

Hah -- you’re talking to the right guy! Not sure if I mentioned in this thread that I’ve been a lifelong tube-roller. For thirty years, my go-to system was a beautiful pair of Quad ELSs that I restored, and a variety of tube amps that I either rebuilt myself (like my heavily moded Dynaco boxes) or sent to the factory for refurbishing (e.g., my 1950s Class A Quad 2 monoblocks). I still lust for modern tube designs from the likes of ARC & CJ.

However, I have some physical constraints and there are also configuration issues that limit this purchase to solid-state. And smaller, lighter SS at that. I’ve never had a good experience with Class D, and that’s one reason why I’ve settled on the Ayre integrated -- 130wpc, 24 pounds, 3.5" high, very flexible connectivity, highly praised Class A/AB sonics. This will be something new for me, but I’ve really done a ton of homework on the topic -- so my hopes are high.

I’ve been told by everyone from the late, great Art Dudley to the guy who designed the Ayre integrated, to even Harbeth support, that Ayre and Harbeth are a great combination.

But I can understand your recommendation, too. In fact, Art, shortly before he passed, told me that he considered the Harbeths to be more "Quad-like" (I think he was speaking in terms of coherency and voicing) than any other dynamic-driver system at anywhere near the same price. So driving speakers like these with a great tube amp would be pretty exciting.  Nonetheless, I'll be heading in a different direction this time, so, as they say, fingers crossed, teeth clenched, here we go.

To answer your question, I have the mid-sized Compact 7-ES3, rolled off to a powered sub at around 50 Hz. I went with that model b/c of its reputation for being the most successful model in the Harbeth line -- at least according to Alan Shaw himself. In my moderate-sized room, and with an external powered sub, I didn’t need the extra volume levels and bass extension of the larger models.