Naim + Harbeth Speakers

This sounds suspiciously like dealer marketing to me. 

Sorry that it sounds like that to you...I am a Naim and Harbeth dealer...but that was not the intent of this post...I happen to listen to that system this past Saturday and thought it sound great and wanted to share with the community...and to see if there is a lot of who are using the two brands together. 

A mate has the M40.1 driven by Naim 32.5 (with different sound cards) / 135 monos. He auditioned the Devialet integrated with the 40.1 in his system and it sounded less musical and involving than the Naim kit to his ears. I am not sure how different is the M40.1 from the M40.2.

Quite a few folks use Naim on Harbeth speakers. I used half a dozen amps with the SHL5 for two years trying to make them work in my system, and the Naim did it for me. The SHL5s sounded too warm/thick and slow with all other amps I tried. The SHL5s sound dynamic, fast and involving with Naim amps. The Harbeth will not boogie or rock as hard as other dynamic speakers but they can sound livelier and more exuberant with the Naims.

The larger Harbeth speakers can surely sound holographic and 3-D like as their signature or strength is in the midrange. The "warm and fresh Harbeth sound" is the Harbeth's tagline. 

I have been using the NAC202/NAP200 with the Harbeth SHL5 for about 5 years now, maybe more. Currently I am on the 282/200 and the NAP250 and Hicap will join the NAC282 very soon. I hope there is another round of improvement or transformation with these new additions.

Yeah - I hear you...I have the SHL5plus at home - have had a few different Naim systems on it - always stepped up the speed on the system anytime I throw in Naim amplification...midrange is pretty unreal on the Harbeths and Naim does a great job in bringing out this aspect of the speaker. 

I would be suprised if your SHL5s don't transform with the new additions to your system.  I would be interested to hear what addingt he NAP 250 and HiCap does to the system.  

Keep on enjoying the music, 

Joe 

NIce pic...what a hell of a system you have going there...must be great to come home to that after a day out working...

I see that you have the Harbeth pretty much straight on and pretty close to the wall...sound pretty good? Have you tried bringing them out and/or toeing in? If so, what are the benefits of your current positioning?  

I thought about re-positioning them and probably will do it so that they can fire along the long side of the room, but for the the being, I am relatively happy because:

1) It's a house in the Bay Area California, where the walls are made of papers so little effect in bringing them out I would have thought.

2) Too heavy, I just cannot handle them by myself.

Thanks,
Peter

Joe Hi-Fi Corner posted:

Hey all...hope this post finds everyone with smiles on their faces while listening to their favourite music...

I had a chance to listen to a demonstration setup for one of my colleague's customers this past Saturday and I have to say it was pretty damn amazing...it consisted of Naim NAC-N272 and NAP 300 with a  set of Harbeth M40.2 speakers...all I can say is...Wow!!! 

The Naim and Harbeth combo brought out so much minor nuances and subtitles that are overlooked by so many systems at similar prices. The sound stage was holographic and immense.  The NAP 300 had complete control over the M40.2 and never seemed to blink an eye at whatever music I threw at it.  

Serious...if you haven't hear Naim and Harbeth together...I highly recommend having a listen...

Anyone else use Harbeth speakers with Naim?  

SHL5 plus and 252/300 and superline (and vpi with koetsu): a match made in heaven, but: if i can do it again, i would take the new compact 7 or, my hidden dream, the p3 esr. Christoph 

Peter Dinh posted:

Your speakers are certainly quite close to the wall boundaries. My SHL5s are placed further out into the room by a significant margin compared to your setup. Nice system by the way!

Thanks Ryder, the picture does not seem to project to true scale - They are actually at least 30 cm from the wall.

Btw, I think the Harbeth 40.2 is the equivalence of the Linn Isobarik without the hassle of the active setup.

Peter Dinh posted:

Thanks Ryder, the picture does not seem to project to true scale - They are actually at least 30 cm from the wall.

Thanks for the information Peter. 0.3m from the front wall is pretty good.

These are the photos of my setup several months ago. The (clear) distance from the front wall to the back of the speaker is about 1.0m in this old arrangement.

The configuration has changed lately, especially after the NAC282 came into the picture. The diffusers had been rearranged and the speakers are now wider apart and pushed slightly out into the room. The distance from the front wall to the rear of the speaker is now about 1.1m+.

My new NAC282 still unconnected sitting on the floor.

My Dali Mentor Menuets. I occasionally put them into the main system.

Joe Hi-Fi Corner posted:

Hey all...hope this post finds everyone with smiles on their faces while listening to their favourite music...

I had a chance to listen to a demonstration setup for one of my colleague's customers this past Saturday and I have to say it was pretty damn amazing...it consisted of Naim NAC-N272 and NAP 300 with a  set of Harbeth M40.2 speakers...all I can say is...Wow!!! 

The Naim and Harbeth combo brought out so much minor nuances and subtitles that are overlooked by so many systems at similar prices. The sound stage was holographic and immense.  The NAP 300 had complete control over the M40.2 and never seemed to blink an eye at whatever music I threw at it.  

Serious...if you haven't hear Naim and Harbeth together...I highly recommend having a listen...

Anyone else use Harbeth speakers with Naim?  

I m using Supernait with Harbeth Compact 7ES-3. Source from AppleTV optical output into Supernait DAC optical input.

I'm using Harbeth 7E3 with Naim Nait 5i2 and 5i CD. Sound very good to me.

Wanted to upgrade to Supernait 2 - but after auditioning ,couldn't notice any difference.

ryder. posted:

My new NAC282 still unconnected sitting on the floor.

My Dali Mentor Menuets. I occasionally put them into the main system.

Nice Pictures, those Dalli Menuets really are easy on the eyes! 

A picture is worth a thousand words.

BTW, Nice Crib!

Allante93!

Peter Dinh posted:

I thought about re-positioning them and probably will do it so that they can fire along the long side of the room, but for the the being, I am relatively happy because:

1) It's a house in the Bay Area California, where the walls are made of papers so little effect in bringing them out I would have thought.

2) Too heavy, I just cannot handle them by myself.

Thanks,
Peter

Peter, 

Sounds like the system is working well with the way that it is set up; 30cm from the wall has worked in a few rooms I've setup in. Its just dependent on how they react to the natural room acoustics and if they're sounding good, then I say rock on...

Haven't been out to Cali in a long time - use to live in Tahoe  for a time as was a ski instructor out there...loved it...but alas my better half brought me back out to sunny Scotland...which works for me as I love this country (and work in one of the best hi-fi in all of Scotland, so more toys then I can have ever dreamed of)...

Enjoy the M40.2 and Naim system...

Joe 

ryder. posted:

My new NAC282 still unconnected sitting on the floor.

My Dali Mentor Menuets. I occasionally put them into the main system.

Ryder, 

Nice looking set up...must be the bee's knees...looks like you really took a lot of time to finely tune the system...I'm sure it has paid off 100-fold in reproducing great music...

Keep on enjoying the music...

Interested to hear how the upgrade to the 282 effected the system...

Joe 

Boaz posted:

I'm using Harbeth 7E3 with Naim Nait 5i2 and 5i CD. Sound very good to me.

Wanted to upgrade to Supernait 2 - but after auditioning ,couldn't notice any difference.

Boaz, 

The Compact 7E3 are great speakers...have used them in a lot of systems and always seem to be just what the doctor ordered...As I tell most people who come into the shop...if you cannot hear a difference then your money is better spent on something different to improve the system...have you tried going up to the CD5 XS to see what that would do the system?  It might be the improvement you were hoping for with the SuperNait 2; just a thought. 

Keep enjoying the music. 

Joe 

christoph posted:

Joe Hi-Fi Corner posted:

Hey all...hope this post finds everyone with smiles on their faces while listening to their favourite music...

I had a chance to listen to a demonstration setup for one of my colleague's customers this past Saturday and I have to say it was pretty damn amazing...it consisted of Naim NAC-N272 and NAP 300 with a  set of Harbeth M40.2 speakers...all I can say is...Wow!!! 

The Naim and Harbeth combo brought out so much minor nuances and subtitles that are overlooked by so many systems at similar prices. The sound stage was holographic and immense.  The NAP 300 had complete control over the M40.2 and never seemed to blink an eye at whatever music I threw at it.  

Serious...if you haven't hear Naim and Harbeth together...I highly recommend having a listen...

Anyone else use Harbeth speakers with Naim?  

SHL5 plus and 252/300 and superline (and vpi with koetsu): a match made in heaven, but: if i can do it again, i would take the new compact 7 or, my hidden dream, the p3 esr. Christoph 

Christoph, 

The SHL5plus and 252/300/Superline with your TT set up must be stunning - just out of curiosity why would you go to the Compact 7 instead of the SHL5plus? Don't get me wrong, I love the Compact 7, just interested to hear why you made mention of it. The P3ESR are something very special indeed for what they can achieve...

Enjoy that lovely system, 

Joe 

Wow Ryder,

Very impressive set up. You know what you're doing. I've never heard a Harbeth set up. Some people become diehard fans, but I am always cynical. It doesn't help when the dealer in Singapore is a little snobbish or should I say confident in Harbeth. So the price is higher locally, and demos are limited.

They say Harbeth don't rock (compared to some other brands), and they need space behind them. These requirements, coupled with higher local price put me off.

Has anybody managed to demo the 40.1 against the 40.2 ??

I tried the 40.1 driven by my 500 system in a domestic 7m x 4m room and found the bass overwhelming.

Has the 40.2 cured the bass problem ?

Hi Kmchow98,

It is true that the Harbeths don't rock too well, only when compared to dynamic speakers such as Dynaudio, ATC, PMC etc. Just to name a few examples. I can attest to this observation as I listen to rock music as well. The frequency extremes of the Harbeth are the main culprit in their inability to rock as well as more dynamic speakers - the highs are not as extended and *smoothened* a little, and the bass doesn't sound as taut or punchy. Most folks who love the Harbeth may not listen to too much rock, and for this reason the system is usually voiced toward a romantic kind of presentation with a tube-like sound. With these systems, fast-paced music will sound horrendous as the speakers couldn't keep up with the beat of the thumping bass. With Naim amps, the Harbeth sound more involving with upbeat music with the pace and rhythm restored. Having said that, the house sound of the Harbeth will still be prevalent. It's just that the speakers won't sound as "dead" or out of place with certain genres of music.

Another point I want to make is the larger Harbeth speakers will need considerable space from the walls if they were to play rock music more convincingly. Otherwise the bass will sound lumpy and cloud the midrange. For this reason, I can understand why most people have disregarded the Harbeth. Space can be premium with some people (or homes). The speakers do need considerable space around them to sound their best, particularly rock or dynamic music played at moderate to high levels. The speaker stands will also play a part too. Thin metal and lightweight for a more open sound.

Hi Ryder,

Thanks for the response.

This is pretty consistent with what I gathered from other people.

Regards

love my monitor 30's - keep them on my second system , was gutted the 40.1's gave me bass boom in my room on the end of the 252/300.  maybe the 552/500 SL could have controlled them better but i think they were too big for my room.  when i demoed them instore they were mightily impressive even on the end of audio research amps.