MotherSauce1
Active Member
Anyone ever heard Harbeth's with Kyocera amps? Been wondering if this might be a fun match...something like the PSESR with eithe the 851, 861, or the 900 series... thoughts? experience with this pairing?
Harbeth & Kyocera
- Thread starter MotherSauce1
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Never have. That said, for a while Kyocera was top notch stuff rivaling the best of sansui in the mid to late 80s. Harbeths likewise have much love. While there's much to be said for synergy and personal taste, there's no reason to expect that this wouldn't be a fine pairing.
MotherSauce1
Active Member
Thanks NJ! I'll let you know if I snag a pair how it sounds
No direct experience on my part, but Alan Shaw of Harbeth has some interesting ideas that run counter to my Linn-oriented biases about system hierarchy. He designs speakers that are easy to drive, and he doesn't believe there are discernible differences in sound between expensive and inexpensive amplifiers. What he does think is important is having user flexibility in the form of balance and tone controls, and some specific amps he has recommended include the Pioneer A-30-K and the Pulse SRA-160USB. He has also said that inexpensive source components such as a portable CD player are fully adequate.
MotherSauce1
Active Member
jrtrent, that's fascinating. I'm curious if Alan Shaw meant to say that there are no discernible differences in sound between expensive and inexpensive amplifiers and that inexpensive source components are fully adequate, for Harbeth speakers OR that those are his general beliefs regarding all sound/hifi. Any idea his intention?
That's an interesting distinction that I hadn't thought of before. I don't have any thoughts on the source component issue, but in the context of the Harbeth forum threads I've read, Shaw is trying to make the point that Harbeth speakers are easy to drive. In one from 2015, he wrote, "Our position that any competent amp will work just fine with Harbeth's, and that really is all readers need to know." Also, in comparing two amplifiers, he wrote:
"two preconditions must absolutely be made:
1) Both amplifiers must be delivering exactly the same voltage, the same music loudness at the speakers. Determining that to the necessary accuracy mandates test equipment.
2) Obviously, both amplifier must be working within their linear range. That means that the 'bigger' more powerful (therefor louder) amplifier must be turned down to be used in the same power range that is common to it and the lesser powered amplifier. Determining that to the necessary accuracy mandates test equipment." http://www.harbeth.co.uk/usergroup/...last-words-on-audio-amplifiers-Jan-2015_/URL=
Thinking of speakers I've owned, the Linn Saras come to mind as being, unlike Harbeth, very difficult speakers to drive. Their impedance curve, if I recall correctly, drops down around 2 Ohms at places, and an amplifier not designed for use below 4 Ohms (as is the case with my current amplifier) could not be expected to drive them properly at any loudness setting. My current amplifier, for instance, is an Audio by Van Alstine Insight 240. This was purchased after consultation with Fran Van Alstine with the easy-to-drive Vandersteen 1C the intended speaker choice. I'm sure it would do great with Harbeths, but I doubt it would have done the Saras justice.
MotherSauce1
Active Member
Oh interesting Linn Kann is actually another pair of speakers I'm interested in...
