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Harbeth Radial Driver - How Good?

I had the opportunity to audition both the Harbeth Compact 7-ES3 speaker and the Harbeth Super HL5 speaker.

Both of these speakers were being powered by a tube integrated amp.

I was very impressed by both speakers and was told by the dealer that their excellent performance is due to their proprietary Radial mid/bass driver.

Any idea if these would work well with a Linn solid state 200W per channel power amp (Akurate 4200)?

Also, would these be a good fit for my 12 feet x 14 feet living room?

Last, what was your experience with these Harbeth speakers?
agiaccio
nolitan
865 posts
 
the shl5's could make use of 200w per channel amp-no probem.
although, they can work well with amps that have 50w or so.
harbeths are very easy to please in terms of amplifications.
am sure the 200w linn would give them a good workout.
bass will be tight and articulate.
I've heard them driven with that much power & its very good.
the c7es3 would be easier to drive, 100w per channel would be tops i would drive them with, but its not to say that 150w-200w wouldnt work with them. But i heard these speakers driven with 12w EL84s and they also sound very good.
good luck!
pdreher's avatar
pdreher
1,231 posts
 
Ditto the advice from Nolitan. Your 12' x 14' room should accomodate either speaker wihout a problem. A 200 WPC Linn amp is overkill, but will work fine. I recently downsized from the $20K Dynaudio C4 to the $13K Harbeth M-40.1's and have not looked back with any regret. The Harbeth sound is non-fatiguing and sounds great at low to moderate volumes, unlike many other speakers that need the volume cranked up to sound their best.
tom_hankins
928 posts
 
I've gone a similar path as Pdreher. I went from the Thiel CS7.2s to the SHL5s and have had no regrets. They are not very picky about amplification or room.
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