NAC272 Plinius and Harbeth M40.2
Posted by: AussieSteve on 26 August 2016
I have just come back from picking up my DR'ed 250, and whilst at the store I had a chance to finally hear Harbeths. The system was a 272, into a tube McIntosh preamp and a Plinius 400W Class A-AB amplifier. The setup was shared with other speakers hence the two preamps and I'd guess not ideal, however I can finally say I not only love the look of the Harbeths, they are WILD speakers! Crickey, massive punch and slam, powerful midrange and lovely tweeter. The room was large and very well treated but it shook, the speakers are magnificent, and the Plinius was operating in pure Class A which sounded great. God only knows how great they would sound with full Naim, the salesman said he had them in the Naim room with a 272 & 200 and he said the sound is better than I heard. That Naim room had a NDX/SC/252/300 and Focal speakers, I did not listen in that room. The next room had another 272 & 300DR amp which I'd asked to hear the new JBL 4367 monitor model and the sound was dreadful, JBL have lost the plot now they are focusing on second rate gear which now usually sells through department stores, closing their famous R&D facility in California. All cables where TQ Blue? (not black) which seemed ok. I can't say for sure but this was my first listen to the 272 and the digital songs through it didn't match the SQ of my CD5XS and 282, but that is more a guess, I haven't done an a/b test. All that said, I really love my system now I have had a chance to compare against others, but man o' man I could easily find a place in my home for them
ryder. posted:So the Harbeth M40.2 is driven by a tube Mcintosh preamp and Plinius 400W Class A amplifier. I can imagine the sound to be powerful and enveloping. I have used an Audio Research LS-16 tube preamp(and several other preamps) with the Plinius 100W Class A amp to drive the Harbeth SHL5 several years ago. No doubt the sound is pleasant but I find the sound to lean on the heavy and thick side with a slow/plodding bass. The combination sounded pretty dead when it was A/B'd with the diminutive LFD Zero LEIII integrated. The energy and dynamics of the LFD were amazing which left the ARC/Plinius combination cold and lifeless. Several other listeners in the room had noticed the rather significant transformation when we swapped the amps.
The M40.2 demands quite a bit of power to come alive, and for this reason the 400W Plinius may have come in useful. Personally I prefer Naim over McIntosh/Plinius for the Harbeth for an overall more engaging listen. The McIntosh/Plinius combination will likely sound warmer, lusher and more tube-like than the Naim setup but may sound slow or plodding next to the Naims. Only a comparison would reveal the differences. It is unfortunate the dealer had the 272/200 in the other room. Otherwise you could have listened to the M40.2 with the Naims and share your experience here.
I do agree, the Harbeth's sounded great, but I can see/hear how they could be more articulate. I would have LOVED to hear them with all Naim, my instinct is that a 252/300 combo would be droolworthy. The dealer surprised me when he said the 272 and 200 sounded sublime, that says a lot for the 200 I reckon. They do though tick every box for me in classic looks and a classic sound, I loved the way they had a great top to bottom balance, as Mike Myers says in Waynes World, "They will be mine, Oh Yes, They will be mine"