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Which valve amplifier with Harbeth SHL5 (no plus)

Chris81

Chris81

pfm Member
Cheers,

I now own (again) a pair of Harbeth SHL5 and I want to buy a matching valve integrated or maybe valve pre/amp combination.

I'm not interested in general advices for amps, I'd only like to know which valve amplifiers the users here are using. Please also no: "I know this and that amp and I think it would be a good match with your SHL5."

I'm looking for user experiences and I'd be glad if the topic and my wish would be respected.:)

In the past I used a Audiomat Solfege and a Unison S6 MKII, which I sold for different reason but no sounding. Both sounded very good.

I also know Unison Triode 25, Simply Two and the Tsakiridis Aeolon+, but wouldn't buy each of them for the Harbeth.

A remote is on the wishlist too.;)

Kind regards
Christian
 
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I’ve owned SLH5s and to my mind they do need a bit of power, i.e I’d go for something like push-pull EL34s (30 Watts or so), say a Radford. In a smallish room and assuming you are not a real volume freak you may get away with a pair of EL84s, I’ve certainly seen folk driving them with the little Leben, but as a fan of the Leak Stereo 20 (pretty much the same thing in power amp form and with heftier transformers) I think you’d need just a little more grunt. Anongst other amps I used a little Prima Luna Prologue 2 with mine both with EL34s and KT88s and felt it drove them fine.
 
Thanks.
I have never heard a EAR Amp. One of the reasons is the missing remote. But there is a relatively good offer in Germany for a EAR Yoshino EAR 8L6.

BTW: Which Pre did you used with the EAR 890.
 
I have owned several Harbeth speakers, including the SHL5 (not plus).

I've also owned the following tube amps during the time I had the SHL5:

Unison Research S6 mkI
Jadis Orchestra Reference mkII
Icon Audio ST40mkII
Mystere ia11

Like Tony, I too am of the opinion that the SHL5 needs a bit of power to make them really open up. When fed with a decent amount of power and quality current, they go from good to very good.

Of the above amps, my joint favourites were Jadis and Mystere, followed by the Unison and last the Icon Audio.

I tube rolled a bit as well. The best combinations to my ears were Tung Sol 6SN7 and either Svetlana Winged C EL34 or JJ Premium KT77. I also liked the Groove Tubes EL34.

The Svetlana Winged C had a smoother, more velvety sound which I liked for acoustic music, especially female vocals and strings. For light rock (e.g. Fleetwood Mac, Supertramp, Dire Straits), the KT77 gave a punchier and faster sound with tighter bass compared to the Winged C.

For value for money, the Mystere wins the contest. At around £2000 it is very close to the more expensive Jadis. I liked the Unison S6, but did not think it was a good match for the Harbeth. I bought it at a time when I had some Audio Physic speakers and the S6 was a very good match with them, but not so good with the Harbeth.
 
A friend of mine an me both used the S6 MKII and we both liked it. Maybe the sound from the S6 MKI is different or we have a different liking.
 
2 weeks ago I heard an amazing system which was hl5plus and unison research unico 90 . the grip on the speakers was excellent and very musical . the amp was not even run in but wow it sounded good . highly recommended

I am sure you know the amp is a valve hybrid
 
Sorry hifinutt but your post is exactly the type of post I was not looking for.
That is the reason for the long starting post.;)
 
now I read that carefully and apologise but this was the harbeth and it was a beautiful combo that I heard . in fact I may well demo one
 
No, it was the plus which sounds completely different IMHO (I owned both) my is a older none plus model.;)
 
Hi celloman

I too like the S6 very much. I think its a lovely amp, but with the Harbeth, my mkI S6 did not have enough grip on the bass compared with the Mystere or the Jadis which I felt had a bit more grip of the bass and sounded just a bit more authoritative. I've not heard the S6 mkII so I don't know what the difference is or whether I would prefer it to the mkI.

My S6 sounded wonderful with the Audio Physic Spark that I had then (I bought the Audio Physic and the S6 from the same gentleman) and later upgraded to the Audio Physic Yara which was even better than the Spark (the Yara has much better integration of the bass and the mids/highs than the Spark) and the S6 was a really good match.

I agree with you that there is a noticeable difference between the SHL5 (non plus) and the SHL5+. I switched from the SHL5 (non plus) to the Harbeth M30.1 because the M30.1 was better suited to my room size and because I could detect sibilence from the SHL5 (non plus). Once I detected the sibilence, I would always listen out for it and that really annoyed me. The SHL5+ resolved the sibilence issue IMO.

The Mystere is a real over-achiever at its price, but the downside is that it does not come with a remote control so that might not appeal to you. Its also very rare so difficult to find secondhand. The guys behind it are ex-Prima Luna people.
 
@Vintage 60: The SHL5+ sounded to dry for me and the wonderful warm midrange is gone.
The german secondhand-market is full of SHL5+ but not one SHL5.
If you consider how long the plus version is in the market and how long the SHL5 is in the market that confirms my experience.
But as always tastes are different. ;)
 
interesting , I spent a considerable amount of time researching the shl5 , especially when that beautiful mint pair came up on pfm in Glasgow . and liased with one or two from other countries . it was very enlightening to read rockmeisters thoughts on the 3 versions recently . you are of course so correct that our tastes are so different . when I heard the plus version 2 weeks ago I was with a chap who owned the non plus version for some time and it was good to hear his thoughts .
 
Cellofan said:
@Vintage 60: The SHL5+ sounded to dry for me and the wonderful warm midrange is gone.
The german secondhand-market is full of SHL5+ but not one SHL5.
If you consider how long the plus version is in the market and how long the SHL5 is in the market that confirms my experience.
But as always tastes are different. ;)
Click to expand...

I apologise beforehand as there is no contribution with my post on the subject of valve amplifiers. However, your remark about the SHL5+ flooding the German's 2nd hand market is interesting. One possibility I can think of is the SHL5+ sounds more like German speakers such as Elac and Audio Physics - clean, precise, clinical and more analytical. A friend owns the Audio Physic Avantera and we have compared it with the Harbeth 40.1 side-by-side. Although the SHL5+ is not German, it sounds closer to one by showing a cleaner and "colder" character mainly due to its accuracy. On the other hand, the older SHL5 doesn't sound like a German so that may explain why it is in greater demand in Germany when romantic and warm-sounding speakers can be a rare thing over there.

I hope you would get the amp sorted out for your SHL5s. It's still a lovely speaker, and I agree people have different tastes.
 
I had a chance to hear the older SHL5 driven by a PrimaLuna dialogue premium (not HP version) in a smallish room a few times and they sounded really good together. Beautiful open sound particularly good with classical. Only negative I noticed was a slight lack of bottom end impact and definition. Not sure if that was the amp or the speakers and also it was in comparison to my own setup with a speaker that can go down to 27hz so maybe not a fair criticism.
 
audioq said:
Only negative I noticed was a slight lack of bottom end impact and definition.
Click to expand...

Thats my generel impression of the SHL5

I understand the enthusiasm for the mids but in my book things need to gel together
Chamber music and voices is simply not enough use to justify such price tag.

I can't imagine many valve amps are making this issue dissapear.

Apologies to OP and I second the * different taste * comment too
 
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